Unmei Force Retailiation
by Xovercreator
Summary: After the events of Encoded Memories, the Unmei Force was besieged by the forces of the Empire, who seek to conquer the universes. Having realised the threat, the United Gensokyo Forces, the Unmei Force's army, has been mobilised for war. What will lie in wait for them...? And are they the only outsiders to the war of the stars? (Crossover with Team Chronicle: Rebellion)
1. Prologue

Unmei Force: Retaliation

Prologue: Moblisation

* * *

_In the GFS Ryujin..._

Richard was sitting on the captain's chair, as he was trying to light a cigarette between his lips, as he made sure to create a small wind tunnel that would blow the smoke through the air vents, where the smoke will be purified back into breathable air through the path. When the cigarette lit itself with a spark of flame from his magic, he immediately took a deep breath, before sighing deeply, as he threw the spent cigarette butt through one of his sukimas, disposing of it very quickly.

At that moment, Reisen came in with Gus, as Gus seemed to be extremely concerned about something. Richard sighed deeply, before he wheeled himself around with the chair to face the two of them.

"What is it...?" Richard asked with a very dull and unhappy tone. "What do you two want right now...?'

"I came with Gus to listen to his conversation with you." Reisen responded immediately. "He seems to have something to talk to you about."

"Richard, I want to ask you something..." Gus said, before he then became silent, then shaking his head. "I don't know if it's the right thing to say right now."

"Go on, Gus. You have my ear." Richard replied, as he gestured with a wave of his hand. "Feel free to tell me anything."

"Richard... Mind if you tone down on the sorties a little...?" Gus asked. "You're driving everyone into the ground with how you're sending people downside to each world for extended periods of time."

Gus then braced himself for whatever annoyance or irritation was going to be expressed by Richard, only to see that Richard merely closed his eyes for a moment, before then placing a hand on his head.

"'I suppose I should concede that point to you..." Richard responded back. "Although the rest of the members should be rested up after each mission down to the worlds... It wouldn't be bad for you guys to take a break for a moment. We still haven't found anything yet about the 'X-Stones', and grasping in the darkness of the unknown is only a waste of resources."

"I'm glad to hear that." Gus said, as he bowed with gratitude. "Thanks for taking my opinion to heart."

"Oh, Gus... Since when did I never consider your options? I just simply had to make the hard choices." Richard smirked a little. "Don't worry, I'll keep that in mind. Are you fine, Reisen?"

"I am perfectly ready for any kind of mission that may come." Reisen reported back. "I do not any more rest."

"Well, only some of the people need the extended rest." Richard responded back. "Now, go back and talk with the others. I need to take a break while sightseeing the cosmic fabric before us."

"But you're not an astronomer." Gus noted.

"And that's where the pun lies-" Richard was about to say, before there was a siren running through the systems, as his expression turned into one of irritation. "Oh, what now?"

"Commander! We have received unknown contact signals, approaching our base!" A male human bridge officer declared. "Their signatures do not register in our databases!"

"Do the signals have determinable forms?" Richard questioned them.

"Yes. Their forms are akin to light space-fighters." Another bridge officer, of the kappa species, answered the question. "They seem to be carrying plasma ordinance in their weapons."

"Good... It's not the fucking light beams. Once is enough." Richard stated back. "Have scout drones been deployed?"

"Affirmative on the deployment." A female crew officer answered back, as she inputted several commands. "Patching camera feeds to bridge."

The bridge then showed a series of screens, showing the feeds of each scout drone, as they observed a series of familiar looking space fighters approaching them.

"TIE... fighters?" Richard muttered. "Can you zoom in further on their cockpits?"

"Attempting long-range zooming..." A crow tengu female bridge officer answered back, as she made the feeds zoom further in, as they caught sight of a close-up on the cockpit, showing the Imperial troopers commandeering each one of them.

"Yep... Those are Empire mooks." Richard sighed. "Well... Let's observe for now. They might be trying to scout out threats. If they attack us though, retaliate with full force. They won't listen to negotiations, so violence is the only language that will discourage any attempts on our space-fort. And record all signatures as Empire TIE Fighters. Designate all units of the same communication channels as Empire Forces, unless otherwise stated."

"Roger that. Relaying orders..." The male human crew member answered back, as he keyed in the new orders for the stationed crew members.

"I wonder what's their game." Richard hummed, as Reisen and Gus watched the feeds closely. "They seem to be armed, so they are prepared to counter any threats... Or they're looking for a fight."

"But wouldn't that be suicide against a fort of this size?" Gus asked.

"Exactly. And these morons won't realise it until the tertiary weapons come out to pepper them to pieces." Richard responded back. "I want to see what their first contact with us is."

Soon, there is a communications request message box on the bridge screen. "Commander, there are outgoing communications that are aimed towards us. Shall we hail them?"

"Hail them, at full clarity. Leave communications lines completely open, but guarded. I have a bad feeling about these 'visitors' of ours." Richard answered back, before he dropped the mask to his side through a sukima, as he gestured to Gus and Reisen to step out of the view of the window which he would be communicating through, both of them doing so quickly. "Alright, when you're ready."

"Patching right now..." The crew member answered back, as the image of a Imperial Trooper donning white armour, with a orange stripe on its helmet, as well as a orange cape on its back. "This is Commander Pangu of the Unmei Force, hailing you. What is your allegiance, and what is your purpose sending communications to us?"

"We are the Empire." The commander of the Empire Troops responded back in a modulated voice. "So, you are a commander of a force. What is your affiliation to this war?"

'_War...? With who?_' Richard thought, before he nodded his head gently. "War? We have not been informed of such a thing, nor have we felt its effects. Would you like to tell me about it?"

"You are not affected by the war between the Rebellion and our Empire?" The commander responded back, before becoming silent. "That is very suspicious statements there. The war has been ravaging more than a few cluster of galaxies. There must be a discrepancy in your account of matters."

'_I see... So the Empire-Rebellion War is still in effect at this reality..._' Richard noted mentally, before he then leaned forward a little, as his voice took a slightly dangerous tone. "There is no such thing. Either your war has never reached our borders, or your kingdom has designated this sector to be a war-free zone. As such, we are unaware of this war. Thus, I can only declare that I am of neutral standing to this war. I support neither side, which I have no information of, other than what you have told me."

"Hm. I see." The Empire Commander answered back.

"Before I continue this question any further... Who is your leader?" Richard asked in return.

"He is the Sith Lord who seeks to unite all of the universe under his regime, Emperor Darth Sidious." The Empire Commander answered back without any hesitation. "However, he has recently been considered deceased, so the former Grand Moff Tarkin has been elected the new Emperor."

Gus gasped almost loud enough for the Empire Commander to hear it, while Richard clenched the sides of his seat tightly.

'Huh… How strange. I expected Sidious or Kylo Ren to be at the helm. But the former Grand Moff…? Guess that's something different.' Richard thought.

"I do not know of Sith Lords, but if he seeks to unite the universe, his situation is not of our concern, as long as he does not plunder in our sector." Richard answered back, trying his best not to express animosity or distrust from his voice. "Now that we have made proper introductions, I would like to ask, what is the purpose of your visit?'"

"We wish to make a offer with you. We would like to claim this sector for the Empire." The Empire Commander bluntly stated his conditions. "In return, we will ensure that your people will be secured when the Empire achieves it ambition through eventual conquest."

"I'm afraid that's a offer I cannot take." Richard responded back with a wave of his hand. "We do not need protection, nor do we need assistance. The only deals on offer is an non-aggression treaty and trade of resources. We are a nation neutral to your war, and we have no intentions of being forcefully drafted into the war by your Emperor."

"I'm afraid that this is the only offer that you will be given." The Empire Commander responded back. "If you refuse, then your faction will be branded as potential threats to the Empire's conquest, and will be dealt accordingly."

"Are you threatening that you will invade our sector, and plunder and ruin all in your path?" Richard growled with a hint of a threat in his tone. "Are you stating that you will ravage this sector if it does not bend to the Empire's whims?"

"Do not mock the ways of the Empire. This is your last warning." The Empire Commander threatened back. "Surrender and be a part of the Empire, or face destruction."

Richard slowly adjusted his mask, taking a deep breath.

"I'm afraid that you are mistaken. Mistaken that we will be threatened into your service." Richard spoke in a very cold tone. "Record this message to your Emperor. This is a declaration of war, sent from the Unmei Force. We will not be threatened by power-hungry tyrants, and our pacifism is in no way a sign of weakness. You will learn that making us your enemy will cost you the war. You have made a permanent error, one that you wished that you have rectified in the past."

Richard then shut the comms, as he then faced the bridge crew.

"Activate the tertiary turrets. Do not allow any survivors." Richard commanded the bridge crew.

"Understood. Activating turrets." The crew member inputted the new commands, as the bridge screens showed video feeds of the turrets arising from different parts of the massive fortress, as they were twin-barrelled, and linked to a large power source with glowing energy tubes. "Turrets are primed, and ready to fire. Marking all enemies as hostile threats."

The TIE fighters soon come into view of the fortress from the bridge's window, as they fired off barrages of lasers that are blocked off by the barrier that is protecting the fort.

"Minimal damage to the barrier." A crew member reported to Richard. "Retaliation from defence systems is imminent."

Richard watched with a smirk, as the turrets fire off a deadly salvo of lasers that pepper the entire space in front of them, as the TIE Fighters tried to dodge the barrage fired at them, only to be annihilated in merely a few minutes, including the one with the Empire Commander in it.

"Well, looks like we have something to do." Richard said with a casual tone, as he got out of his seat. "Reisen, ready your special forces. I'll get the army ready."

He then made a ship-wide announcement with the press of a button. "Attention all commanding officers and personnel. This is your Commander, Richard Liu, speaking. A assembly has been declared at the Main Hall. Please belay all tasks, except those who have essential duties that must be maintained at all times. Thank you."

Richard then turned to Gus. "So... Nothing to say? Or is that you have no reason to complain?"

"...No. So it's war?" Gus responded back after a brief silence.

"It's war. And they picked the wrong faction to go to war with." Richard replied back. "We fought super-soldiers and a ultra-futuristic world army that could put the Empire to shame in terms of combined individual planet power. Then again, we have to deal with the space frontier this time, and we made the necessary preparations. Now if you excuse me, I have a army to mobilise, my friend. Tell Elma and Ieyasu that they will have to sit out this war, since they are incapable of fighting this kind of war."

"I will make sure they are informed." Gus accepted with a nod, before the two of them entered the elevator that connected to the bridge to the main sectors of the space fortress.

"Make it so, the Empire isn't some sort of joke. They can and will destroy us with full prejudice if they must." Richard answered back. "So we'll make sure the same goes for them."

* * *

_In the Main Hall..._

The Main Hall was filled with high-rank officers, as they were standing as a large organised crowd, in front of a elevated platform, which overlooked the entire massive hall. They were chatting amongst each other, as they were wondering what has caught the army's attention to have all eligible officers gathered to meet.

Soon enough, Richard comes out from the door linked to the platform, as he takes his place in front of the podium, and pulls out a small microphone with a stand to put on it, as he makes a few testing taps to ensure that the system is working as it should, before he then grabs it.

"I'm sure that you're wondering why I have called for a urgent assembly at this time." Richard started off. "Things are going peacefully as they should, and nothing is going wrong for us. Well, that's true, up until now. I'm sure that you might have noticed that there has been some sort of... 'unwelcome intrusion' that had happened just a few hours ago. Most of you are unaware of it, but some might have noticed it."

Richard then placed his hands together in a clasp. "That's right. For a long period of time, we have been finally communicated by a outside force, as a military entity. This may be either a moment of celebration, or a moment of tension, depending on the circumstances. And I have recently made communications with them, and this is the result."

Richard then presses a button, as the record of the exchange between the Empire Commander and Richard blared through the halls, as the officers were shocked to hear that the Empire has declared hostile intentions towards them.

"That's right. A force known as the Empire has hailed us upon discovering our stronghold in this reality." Richard continued, as the recordings died down. "They are to be marked as hostile, due to their intent to seize our resources and claim dominion over our assets, even by violent force. After communications, they were cleanly dispatched by automated defences, when they tried to assault the fortress in a attempt to weaken it. Hence, why some of you engineers, or those who were able to see or hear the discharge of the turrets, and the destruction of the 'diplomatic' party."

Richard then slammed his hands down on the podium. "And this means that a declaration of war has been pointed towards us. By destroying their forces, we have solidified our stance as enemies of the Empire, and they are likely to retaliate with a stronger force. Maybe the party was merely a tiny part of a fleet that is stationed within the sector. If so, then we must prepare for war."

He then gripped the handles of the podium tightly, as his expression became determined. "Remember that we are an army who fights for the safety of their own land. We have not shown aggression back to the Empire, before they have made such insolent threats to us, and ensured their hostility back to us. It is only fair that we are to partake in this war, despite our stance. Because the Empire will not hesitate to fight us, and we shall not either. The Empire will learn that we are a force that is never to be threatened, lest our full force descend upon them, and scatter their remains to the four winds."

He then stepped forward, as he swiped the microphone stand and pulled it up to his mouth, as his voice became more and more bold. "So I beseech that the gods and goddesses of our land will grant us the strength to fight against such tyranny, and that even the great Ryujin himself will guide us into battle with glorious victory and liberation. We are a force of both magic and science, so our power, despite being a mere fraction of our full army back in our lands, is far more mighty than the numbers seem! We will destroy them for their arrogance, and teach them that one does not poke the proverbial sleeping bear!"

He then threw his arm out. "And now, by the privilege granted upon me by the Supreme General of the United Gensokyo Force, Yukari Yakumo, I, Lieutenant Colonel Richard, as the highest rank of all personnel here, declare the full mobilisation of the United Gensokyo Force, to combat the threat that is the Empire!"

The officers in the hall then erupt into a uproar of bravery, as they cry for glory and victory.

"As of now, GFS Izanagi and GFS Amaterasu are to prepare for war, while all other carrier-class units are to be stationed at GFS Ryujin to aid its defence against any Empire Fleet that attempts to destroy our fortress!" Richard ordered all of the officers. "All personnel and soldiers are expected to be fully prepared for war, for we find ourselves on the footsteps of such a battle! All of you, dismissed!"

Richard then turned the microphone off, as he walks out of the hall, as the officers left the hall in rows, as they prepared for war.

* * *

_After a few moments..._

Richard was dressed in his military gear, as it consisted of a black light-weight camo suit with armour plating on the front and back of his torso, as well as on his shoulders, as well as black army jeans that are reinforced with bullet-resistant padding. He also had durable army leather boots on his feet. On his shoulders were the emblem of his rank, a silver maple leaf, and a round path that has a howling humanoid woman with horns roaring to a yellow crescent moon, with the letters 'GHDF' around the bottom of it.

Soon, he is met by a group of soldiers who came before him. One was a young Japanese man, with short scruffy brown-hair and light brown eyes to match., wearing a grey Japanese army soldier uniform, with his shoulders each bearing the insignia of a Japanese sergeant, as well as having the symbol of the GSDF on the right breast of his uniform, and wearing black steel-toed boots like his fellow cohorts and black camo jeans.

The second one was a slender and slim lady,as she looked like that she was of the same species of youkai as Reisen, as she had short purple hair that flowed beside her head, red eyes, and flexible bunny ears on top of her head. She was dressed in a battle medic suit, as she had a armoured vest around her body, with pouches that were filled with medical supplies for immediate first-aid, a portable med-kit on her waist, and red-cross pouches on the shoulder, as her boots were of brown leather without any reinforcement.

The third member of the group was a large and burly humanoid youkai, who had yellow-orange eyes, and a slightly darker hue of tan for his skin. He had stubble on his chin and cheeks, and his brown hair was wild and short. He was decked in full armour, as his military suit consisted of heavy-duty metal armour plating on every part of his body, as there were various demolition gadgets, including a pack of grenades on the side of his suit, protected in a heavily-armoured box where they were placed.

The fourth and final member was a slightly shorter youkai who had short light-blue hair that stuck out from under the green military beret, and sky-blue eyes. He was suited up as a engineer, as his gear consisted of a light-weight padded jacket that covered the entirety of his upper body, with some armour plating to protect his vital spots, and thin jeans that had loops on the side, which had several kinds of utility tools attached to it. And by his side was a small aerial drone that hovered gently in the air.

Richard stopped before them, as he crossed his arms. "Unison Squad, report yourselves to your squad leader."

"Major Tatsuki Yusho, ready for duty, Commander!" The first member responded with a crisp salute. "We are prepared to fight for the sake of Gensokyo once again! You can always count on us. As long as you remain, we will devote ourselves to your command, Lieutenant Colonel."

"Major Rina Shinden, of the Eientei Medic Forces, reporting as well!" The rabbit-eared female youkai answered back next, as she did a salute quickly, before then smiling. "I'm happy that we're ready for battle. I'll make sure that everyone makes it. I promise."

"Major Yu Senju, Demolitions Expert, coming at your orders, boss." The large burly man saluted back with a wild grin. "So, whose heads are we busting this time? I wonder what kind of battle we're going to get? The last one we had with those RAIDERS seemed to be a real blast of a moment. And I can't wait to experience some thrills like the ones they brought before."

"Major Keikyo Wenzu, Engineer and Tech Specialist. Arrived when you have ordered us." The shorter blue-haired male sounded off last, as he did a slow salute, pressing his fingers on the side of his beret. "I always wondered how long peace would last before we would be mobilised for battle. I only hope that it's a short war. We don't need lives lost already, as Rina has made clear."

"At ease, all of you." Richard relieved his members. "I am very delighted to see that you are ready for action. Here are my initial orders: Be prepared to depart from GFS Ryujin, onboard the GFS Izanagi, by 1200 on D-Day. Warm ourselves up, make final preparations, do whatever you wish, but remember that we have little intel on the current situation. The severity of the war is indeterminable at the moment, so caution is to be advised, and all measures are authorised in case of all possible scenarios."

"Got it." Tatsuki responded back. "Will there be anything else?"

"Our mission will be likely to be a strike against the head command. A single-squad infiltration of an enemy stronghold." Richard continued his report. "You may find it quite easy, compared to our last mission, where we were given tighter restrictions. The enemy has similar tech level as the previous opponents we had fought, so this kind of mission would be a piece of cake compared to the long-war survivors we are."

"But we don't have the Gensokyo's Daughters with us for the mission." Rina reminded back. "Two of the members are back at our reality, and the other three will be assisting other forces, is that correct?"

"That is most correct." Richard responded with a nod. "Their efforts are best used to assist certain forces, as there is not enough of their group to form a proper strikeforce like us. Thus, we are the only special-ops strikeforce that can be reliably used. Others will be given low-rank classifieds. We're the heavy-lifters for this war, so don't screw up, or the results will dampen our army's efficiency against the enemy."

"So, we're going to cut the head of the snake, eh?" Yu asked, before his grin grew wider. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy making hell rain down upon anyone who is unfortunate enough to cross our path."

"Hey hey, we need some time to consider the mission objectives first, Yu." Keikyo scolded Yu with a stern expression. "It wouldn't do us good if we just charged in and roared bloody murder while destroying everything in our way. That won't do much to help us achieve the desired effect."

Yu merely crossed his arms, as he scoffed loudly at Keikyo's words. "It works well for us onis. Leave that technical and tactical stuff to humans like our Commander and Tatsuki, and kappa like you, Kei."

Keikyo only sighed deeply at the response, as Richard smiled a little.

"Good to see that team cohesion is working quite fine. The glue between all of you is going fine. I'm proud that even in temporary retirement, you guys haven't changed for the worse." Richard said, before he then brushed past them. "Now then, I will making my own preparations. I hope that you all will be ready for the battles to come. Unison Squad, you are all dismissed until further notice."

Richard then took a sukima back to his room, as he slowly let himself fall back-first onto his bed, before whipping out an picture of a man in sunglasses.

"Ah, LT... It looks like war has found me again. Seems like this opponent is futuristic like your own super army." Richard muttered to himself. "I'm sure that you would be laughing at how our enemy are the aimless Stormtroopers, and the slightly logic-flawed Empire. But then again, AU laws apply, so maybe they might be a extremely competent bunch. We'll have to see... And we'll see if they can surpass the expectations that you have set for my army."

He then slowly set the photo of his acquaintance down, as he slowly let himself drift to sleep.


	2. First Contact

Unmei Force: Retaliation

Chapter 1: First Contact

* * *

_In the Star Wars Galaxy, Arkanis Sector..._

The space around was silent, as the stars shone lightly in the dark space, and the many suns of the space sector were glowing brightly, radiating the sector with radioactive heat.

However, soon that silence was broken, as several blue wormholes appeared in space, as various spaceships of a space fleet appeared, ranging from the smallest of interceptors, to frigates and light cruisers, to the biggest of heavy cruisers and battleships. On the lead was a especially large dreadnought which was wrung with weapons around its hull, and a long carrier-battleship hybrid. All of them bore a emblem that was etched on their hulls, a round yellow emblem with a black eastern dragon coiled around it, holding a silver sword in its mouth, and various heads of different species inside of the emblem.

The dreadnought of destruction was the GFS Amaterasu, while the other flagship was the GFS Izanagi, as they have arrived in the galaxy, to combat the Empire.

* * *

_Inside the GFS Izanagi..._

Richard was standing at the bridge, as he witnessed the bridge crew of the spaceship at work, before looking at the vast space before them.

"Warp transportation has been achieved, with a margin of 0.5% deviance from optimal parameters." One of the kappa crew-members reported back. "All systems are running at optimal, if not near-optimal states."

"Opening communications to other carriers..." A female human announced, as there was a few high-pitched beeps, before there was a gentle buzz.

"GFS Raijin here." A gruff voice rang through the comms. "We made it without any problems."

"GFS Tenshi here." A female captain of one of the carriers reported. "Our situation is all green, commander. All fighters are ready for deployment at your orders."

"GFS Amaterasu, hailing the commander." A hardened male voice is heard. "We have our weapons at the ready, and our men at their posts."

The various ships all reported their situation one by one, as they managed to arrive without any problems.

"This is GFS Izanagi. GFS Amaterasu and our ship have arrived without any complications." Richard called to the other ships in his fleet. "Group up and gather on our ship. All ships that are scanner-capable, scan the sector around us for any lingering threats. Mark all unknown signatures as possible hostiles, unless suitable evidence is witnessed to change identity."

"Understood." The captain of GFS Raijin answered back, before there was the sound of several radar pings, emanating from both sides of the communication. "Long-range scanner have detected no threats so far. And infrared scanners have found nothing so far. If there is something trying to hide from us, it's doing quite well to do so, to have heat-reflective capabilities to their camouflage."

"Our ship doesn't detect any threats either." Richard replied. "Very well, we might have to probe the area further away. Deploy scout drones, and make sure that their camouflage is active. We don't want to tip off the fact that we're here already to the Empire."

From the bridge windows, the spaceship immediately deployed the drones through several small hatches, as they immediately activated their camouflage, and made their way towards the outer area, with the fleet waiting for the results to come.

"While we wait..." Richard said, as he closed the comms to the rest of his fleet. "Crew, what is our coordinates in this space?"

"Coordinates are unknown so far, since we have no data about this sector of space." A crewmember stated. "Commander, is it really a good choice to make that jump? We jumped into unknown territory, and even with our sizable fleet, it would be a rash decision."

"We don't have the time to wait. The fact that we were able to make a jump to their galaxy, with the coordinates from their salvaged systems." Richard responded strictly back. "But still, there is good point to exercise caution. That's why the scout drones are deployed. This time, with them camouflaged, we won't have any 'eyes' to lose, don't you think?"

Suddenly, the bridge panel began to blink, as the communications were reactivated. "Commander, we have managed to find something! We found three ships of unknown affiliation, just a few light years away from us!" A engineer in the ship broadcasted to the bridge.

The bridge then showed a screen, showing a large triangular starship pursuing a smaller ship with multiple thrusters on its back, with a hammer-shaped front, over a brown planet with a swirly white cloud atmosphere. And within the view was a large carrier-class ship with wings on the sides, and was tall with multiple floors, and had several large cannon emplaced on the top of it.

'_Wait a minute... I recognise this scene..._' Richard thought. '_That's the Star Destroyer Devestator, chasing after the Tantive IV, which is where Leia Organa is... That's the start of New Hope... What the hell is going on...!? How did we get attacked, if the Empire still hasn't managed to consolidate their hold on the galaxy!? This doesn't make any sense...!? And then there's that ship there... I wonder whose ship it is... I have a feeling that it has to be the one that David used... He better not interfere with our battles..._'

Richard watched as the Devestator boarded the Tantive IV, before the Devestator left after acquiring its target, and the Tantive IV was left unstaffed, as it immediately collided with the nearby asteroid belt, in which it was destroyed soundly.

'_My heart goes to those who have lost their lives on that ship..._' Richard thought with respect and grief. '_They died a vain death, but they still found meaning in trying to protect the princess with their lives..._'

Suddenly, the camera feed from the drone was cut off, as klaxons sounded on the bridge, startling Richard, who with in the middle of making a silent prayer to the lost crew of the Rebel carrier.

"An alarm!? What is the situation!?" Richard demanded.

"We've been detected by Empire Forces!" A male crew-member frantically exclaimed, as he immediately brought up a picture of a small Empire space fleet heading their way. "What's our orders, commander!? Should we flee and shake off any pursuit forces, or should we engage them?"

"Prepare the men, ready all units for battle!" Richard barked out his orders. "We have to destroy this force, before they have the chance to report our presence! Do not allow a single one to retreat!"

Richard then activated the ship's announcement system. "All personnel, this is your Commander speaking! Enemy forces are approaching, and are armed for battle! All hands to battle-stations! I repeat, all hands to battle-stations! This is not a drill!"

He then switched over to the ship comms, as he immediately opened a secure communication lines with the other ship in the fleet. "The enemy fleet is approaching us, prepare for battle! I repeat, prepare for battle!"

"Understood, Commander! We'll be ready on the double!" The captain of the GFS Amaterasu barked back, as the ship's weapon came online one by one.

The rest of the fleet readied themselves, as the carriers were already starting to deploy fighters to combat the enemy forces, and the destroyers and frigates were taking formation, as the frigates made for the vanguard to intercept the enemies with the interceptors, while the battleships and heavy carriers laid back to provide supporting fire.

"XO, fall in!" Richard cried, as the officer immediately made his presence known, by coming up to Richard. He was a relatively young male kappa, decked with white and yellow commanding officer gear, with a admiral's cap on his head.

"Yes, Commander!?" The young XO responded, doing a quick salute.

"I am going to take to the battlefield myself. Take care of the ship in my place." Richard declared. "It's better in your hands than my own. The only reason I'm in this ship is to use my authority to rally men to battle. My true purpose lies in battle."

"As you wish, commander! I won't let you down, sir!" The young officer answered back with a devoted tone.

Richard merely nodded, before he then exited the command bridge, before he made his way to the elevator, pushing past groups of personnel who were making their way to their respective stations, as he managed to get into one of the service elevators in the nick of time with some of his troops, as they noticed him, and all gave a salute to their commanding officer.

The elevator quickly reached the hangar level, as the soldiers dispersed out of it, making their way to their respective fighters, while Richard immediately made his way to the first row of fighters, where the personal Arwings were. He was the first to enter his Arwing, as its hull was crimson, with orange flame decals on the elongated wings, as well as twin chain-bolt guns underneath the wings, and the twin energy rods under the cockpit.

Richard immediately flicked on the system switches, as the familiar HUD of his Arwing activated, showing the power levels, and the hull integrity of his Arwing, as well as a small radar on the edge of it.

"Greetings, Richard Liu." A slightly robotic female voice rang in the cockpit. "I have dated that Alter Phoenix has not been piloted for 3843 days. However, I can assure you that the fighter has not suffered any form of deterioration or wear, thanks to the services that have been provided to it."

"Good to know, EVO." Richard responded back to the fighter's self-aware AI. "I'm sorry that I have left you for so long. But now, we got a chance to relive the old days, when I was able to fly you into the vast space, and rain destruction on my enemies."

"Very well, would you like a refresher on the fighter's abilities? 10 years is enough to forget about most of the things that the fighter has to offer." EVO answered back.

"No thanks, we don't have the time for that. Besides, I remember clearly what this is capable of. It's basically Ex-Tio mixed with Phoenix Mark II, as well as the Arwing's power core, right?" Richard stated, before he slowly eased the fighter forward, as the operator underneath was guiding it towards the deployment strip, as some of the army's space fighters have launched off already, and the battle was already starting outside, as TIE Fighters peppered the area outside with laser fire, while the fighters were firing off both laser and energy bolts at them, as explosions from the targets brightened the battlefield.

Soon, Richard turned to see that Fox has already readied his Arwing, as it was the same old blue-and-white Arwing that he used before, although it had some enhancements to it, to retrofit it into a more capable fighter for the army. Fox immediately gave Richard a thumbs up.

"So, you're giving your little fighter a ride after so long, huh Richard?" Fox asked through the inner comms. "It's been a while since you flew it."

"Same to you, Fox. I trust that your skill have not rusted after so long?" Richard asked back in a slight jab towards the anthropomorphic fighter pilot.

"Ha, you wished!" Fox chuckled. "Let's see who can take down the most, shall we?"

The operator in front of them immediately gave them the 'all-clear' signal, as both of the fighters immediately revved up their engines for launch.

"Well, be prepared to lose, I got superior weaponry on my side." Richard answered back. "And I still know how to twist this fighter, even in space."

"Variable weapon-systems, check. Reflective barrier, check. Main and back-up thrusters, check. Power core and energy panels, check." EVO intoned. "All systems are green, we are ready for launch, Richard."

Richard then immediately throttled forward, as the fighter shot out of the hangar, as it joined the battle outside, with Fox's Arwing close after him.

"All squadrons, report your status!" Richard communicated to all allied forces nearby.

"Biwa Squadron is fighting with all we got, commander!" A male pilot announced.

"Tenma Squadron here, we're tearing these suckers up!" A cocky female squad leader exclaimed.

"Shogi Squadron here, none of us have been hit yet." A calm male squad leader answered back.

Richard then immediately shut off his comms, before he then immediately darted after a group of TIE fighters, that are chasing after one of his fighters.

"Pick on someone your own level, bastards!" Richard roared, as he immediately fired upon them, as the twin guns on his fighter rattled off lasers in a rapid burst, as they struck the TIE fighters multiple times, causing them to explode.

He then immediately swerved away, as he immediately continued forward, before he noticed another group of TIE fighters that was oncoming with him. He immediately switched weapons, as a aiming reticle appeared on his HUD, as he slowly locked onto each of them, sweeping over them multiple times, as each of them let out a successive beep when the reticle aligned with the target. And then, with the press of a single button, his fighter fired off a series of curved green lasers that honed on each of the fighters, penetrating through them and destroying them completely.

"Looks like the Ex-Tio weapon systems are overpowered in this instance, and therefore, so are mine." Richard remarked, before he laughed a little. "Now how does Fox think of trying to top me in this battle!?"

The aforementioned pilot immediately appeared in Richard's sight, as he pursued a wave of fighters, charging up the laser cannons, before letting off a massive green burst that exploded within the group of fighters, taking them all out. Richard merely scoffed at the display, before he increased the speed of his throttle.

Soon, the fighter's alarms systems were tripped off, as there were multiple incoming warning signs on his HUD.

"Richard, the enemy fighters are all targeting you, and they're using plasma variants of torpedos to lock onto you!" EVO warned her pilot.

"I got it." Richard answered back. "Activate FPM, EVO. I'll leave it to you to autopilot for a moment.

Richard then watched as the area around his cockpit faded away, as it showed him a complete 360 degree view of the battlefield around him, as he noticed that there were a salvo of plasma torpedos that were locked onto him. The pilot seat also changed its orientation, allowing Richard to revolve it around to see at any direction he wanted.

He immediately used the reticle aligned to his sight to lock onto each of the plasma torpedoes, as the green lock-on lasers intercepted the purplish-pink balls of death that tried to hit him, as he continued intercepting the torpedoes, until he was clear of it. Its purpose complete, the seat immediately returned back to its original position, and the cockpit reappeared.

"All lock-on warnings have been cleared." EVO announced. "Returning direct control, Richard."

Richard immediately boosted forward, as he noticed that there were TIE Defenders in front of him, as well some TIE Silencers in the group.

"Looks like there's a little blockade ahead." Richard commented, before he switched weapons again, as he immediately switched his firepower into large arrow-headed bolts of energy that pierced through the enemies, as Richard dodged the enemy fire with side-to-side strafing, although some of the fire managed to hit his fighter, as it damaged the hull slightly. "Too bad that I'm here to break that blockade."

Suddenly, the comms crackled back on, as there is the sound of distress on the other side. "Commander! This is Biwa Squadron! We're taking heavy causalities! The enemies have us surrounded! We need back-up!" The captain of the squadron cried.

"Hang on, soldier! I'll be there soon!" Richard yelled back, as he immediately swerved his craft around, as he throttled towards the coordinates where the Biwa Squadron were fighting, as they were being attacked from all angles by TIE fighters, and long-range fire from the Empire star fleet.

"Commander! Thank the gods! You arrived!" The captain expressed his relief, as Richard immediately gunned the enemies in front of him, to regroup with Biwa Squadron.

"Bundle up on me. Focus only on evasion. I'll protect you all." Richard ordered, as the fighters complied immediately, as they aligned their course with Richard's. "Alright, whatever you do, don't move. The experimental reflector shield will not be able to to handle collision damage."

Richard then immediately propped the barrier up, as the spherical clear blue shield was deflecting enemy fire from the squadron, as some of them were returned back to their shooters, promptly annihilating him.

"Awesome...! The Commander is really pulling the weight for us all..." A pilot within the squadron remarked.

"Biwa Squadron, form up on me, and support me in the assault. Eliminate all enemies in front of me. I'm going for a firing run on one of the destroyers." Richard declared, as he made course for one of the star destroyers.

"Roger that!" The leader said. "You heard him, form up on him!"

The fighters and Richard immediately advanced through the battlefield, as they swiftly annihilated any troops in their way. On the way, they saw a Arwing that had a flame decal on the sides of the cockpit, as his weapons fired off twin plasma beams that latched onto the fighters and singed them into ashes.

"Richard, glad that you're still fine." Gus hailed from the Arwing. "How is the situation on the battlefield?"

"I'm not sure. EVO, a quick estimate, please?" Richard asked his onboard AI.

"According to nearby forces, we are at an moderate advantage. Causalities for our force are fairly low compared to the enemy causalities." EVO reported. "If we can take out one of the 'star destroyers' that you reference to, the chance of victory via rout will increase considerably."

"That's the plan." Richard answered back. "Gus, a little support?"

"Alright, I'll keep you covered until you make it to the bridge." Gus agreed, as he immediately swerved to join Richard's assault.

The group immediately come into view of the star destroyer, as the various turrets and in-built weapons on the massive destroyer turned to their attention to them, firing off a salvo of lasers and missiles at them. Richard immediately propped up the reflector barrier, to protect his group, while Gus immediately used a barrel-roll manoeuvre to block off any damage, and reflect some of the projectiles back to destroy several of the turrets.

"Alright, coming in hot!" Richard said, as he immediately swooped down, flying just above the surface of the Star Destroyer, as the fighters followed him dispersed to assault the other areas. He immediately lined his sights up with the targets in his path, before letting loose a rain of laser bolts that tore the turrets and structural obstacles in his path. "Come and get some, you bastards!"

Richard blasted his way across the length of the star-destroyer, before he then angled towards the bridge, as he charged up his weapons, while avoiding any fire from the enemies around him, which was shortly dispatched by Gus.

"A present for you imperialistic fuckers." Richard quipped, as he came right at the bridge of the star-destroyer, firing off a massive beam that tore right through the bridge, destroying it, and rendering the ship without its command, making it almost disabled. "Zap goes the laser."

He then flew backwards in a upside-down motion, before righting himself with a half-spin, as the star-destroyer was being destroyed by the combined fire of the GFS Amaterasu and several cruisers, exploding in a bright flash of light, eliciting cheers around the army's communication channels.

The empire fleet was slowly whittled down by the combined forces of the United Gensokyo Forces space fleet, as the disadvantage between the forces was enough to shift the balance to the point that the fight led to the retreat of the Empire Forces, although the fighters and the nimble freighters managed to get rid of the stragglers before they could attempt to warp out of the space.

"Thank you for the assistance, Commander." The squad leader gratefully thanked his superior. "If it wasn't for your timely arrival, I would fear that my men would have been dispatched quickly."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm more of the kind of commanding officer who uses his abilities to support his men and rally their morale with feats of courage and skill." Richard replied casually. "Biwa Squadron, retreat back to the GFS Izanagi. You men deserve a moment of R&R for your battle, and so do the other squadrons.

Richard then relayed his words to the entire space fleet. "All units, standby until further orders. All deployed squadrons and units are to return back to their respective ships, for refuelling and rearming. All spaceships, begin automated repairs and fortification of the nearby sector, until further notice."

The entire army complied, as they immediately loaded themselves back into the spaceships, leaving only Richard's fighter outside.

"Good, no complications there." Richard said, before he then leaned back and kicked his feet up on the cockpit, relaxing himself. "Now then, EVO, take me back, will you? I'm a little tired after helping clean up-"

"Commander!" A crewmember of the flagship shouted. "We detected a new development of the situation at the unnamed planet under observation!"

"Oh, what is it?" Richard grumbled, as he set his feet back down, and placed his hands back on the controls, tense about any surprises coming his way. "Show me the feed."

The cockpit showed the broadcast of Tatooine, as the scout drone's HUD showed that there was a launch from the planet itself, as the scout drone used it enhanced zooming capabilities, to reveal the launching object as a familiar disc-shaped spaceship.

'The Millennium Falcon…!' Richard thought with surprise. 'Fair enough… We have been fighting long enough that Luke has started his journey to find his father, and help the Rebellion.'

He then noticed that there were several star-destroyers in the way, and the same ship that possibly belonged to David was still there, as it seemed to be prepared for combat.

'I have to ensure that the Millenium Falcon makes it safe out of here… The Rebellion is vital to keep the enemy busy, while we make a pincer assault on the Empire forces ourselves…'

Richard then checked his HUD, as it showed that the fighter's energy was considerably enough to continue fighting for another round, but not enough to sustain a short-range warp to the location.

"Already that much energy is lost…? Damn…" Richard said, clicking his tongue in frustration.

"Well, Nothing I can do… EVO, take me back. I'm sure whoever's there can handle themselves."

"Acknowledged, Richard." EVO responded back, as the fighter entered auto-pilot, and took Richard back.


	3. Infiltration

Unmei Force: Retaliation

Chapter 2: Infiltration

* * *

_In the Javin sector..._

The UGF fleet managed to warp into the area, without any problems, as they seemed to have managed to repair from the previous battle's damages fairly well.

"We managed to arrive at the coordinates that have been specified, Commander." One of the spaceship captains communicated with Richard. "How exactly do you know the coordinates of this galaxy well?"

"You forget that I was once the protegee of Yukari Yakumo, captain." Richard responded back. "She did not train me solely on my powers and body alone. She drilled knowledge that a simple person would not be able to cope with, into my head through multiple headache-inducing lessons. I used the knowledge that we have obtained, and a few complex calculations that should be left unexplained, to calculate the estimated coordinates of several key planets and sectors. It hasn't failed me before on paper, and it did not fail now."'

"Understood, commander. But what's the reason you have came here? Why did it warrant the entire fleet to move towards this place?" The captain asked back.

"Because we're going to do some work for a few little friends. They'll be quite grateful that we have reduced their problems quite a lot, and that gratitude will convert into favours that can be used to negotiate a non-aggression pact with their represented faction, and a temporary truce against the Empire, which we will need." Richard reasoned. "We can't fight the Empire alone with these numbers. At best, we can challenge one of their main fleets with our own, but fighting against the entire Empire with only us is suicide with this fleet composition."

"Right... I'll consider those words carefully, Commander. For now, the men are alert and prepared for threats." The response came through, with some rustling, hinting the commander might be nudging his cap or body slightly in a gesture of uneasiness. "We'll make sure that we'll extract you all when you complete your personal mission with the Unison Squad, sir."

"Don't worry, we won't make a huge mess of things. After all, you're speaking to the group who traversed the entire Outside World, and fought 'all of the king's men' for a simple copy of the Gensokyo Chronicle." Richard smirked a little. "We came back through hell and back during that trip, and we'll do it again if we must."

* * *

_In the Bespin outpost..._

Stormtroopers were patrolling every single platform and path of the Empire outpost, all equipped with standard blaster rifles, as they keep a vigilant eye for any intruders on the outpost.

"Keep an eye out for any enemies." The commander of the stormtroopers advised his men. "Recently, there has been rumours that there is a new faction that has rose up against the Empire."

"Sir, I doubt that they would be as much of a threat at the Empire." One of the other stormtroopers responded back. "The Rebellion has been growing considerably, and they're getting more competent leadership and reliable military assets to counter us.

"Always keep an eye on your enemies, our former Emperor has told his men." The commander warned. "This force seems to be quite serious in their threat, and they have wiped the first-contact squad within a few moments. Who knows what kind of power they possess...?"

The stormtrooper that was communicating with the commander immediately turned the communicator in his white helmet off, as he turned around, to inspect the edge of one of the landing pads for the ships, with a TIE fighter on it.

"Seems quite peaceful today. Bad luck that it was my turn to patrol today, since there are no scheduled arrivals or any rumours of conflict in even nearby sectors." The stormtrooper muttered. "I wonder if I'll have time to myself to to go to one of those famous bars in this planet."

Suddenly, he felt something smack the helmet off his head, before swiping a hand over his mouth, and wrapping a arm around his neck, as he tried to pry the arm that was firmly secured around his neck.

"Don't worry. This will be the last patrol you will ever do. Your turn will never come again... not ever." A silent whisper entered his ear, from behind.

Before he could discern who the person was from the voice, he felt his neck being crushed completely by the arm surrounding him. His vision faded, and he couldn't feel anything anymore.

From behind the assassinated storm-trooper, Richard slowly faded into view, pressing a button that was located on his wrist, where a small square-shaped device was placed on.

"One down, many more to go." Richard noted, as he immediately reengaged the camouflage, as he faded back into nothing, with not even a single distorting ripple to indicate his invisibility, not before dropped the corpse of the strangled stormtrooper into one of his sukimas, to hide the body.

He slowly made his way past, making sure to make his footsteps nearly unheard and unnoticed, as he pulled out a knife that seemed to be made of the same material that provided his invisibility, effectively hiding the knife from plain sight. He then made sure to do stealth takedowns on each of the stormtroopers, by either lethal and non-lethal means, using his own bare hands and a knife.

After having finished bashing the heads of the last two stormtrooper guards together with such force that it knocked them out soundly, he immediately waited for a moment, walking towards one of the unoccupied landing pads, before snapping his fingers, as a person-sized sukima appeared in front of him.

"It's all clear." Richard called to the other side. "Come over here and regroup with me."

Soon, the other members of the Unison Squad stream out, as they were armed in their respective loadouts.

"Well, time to begin the assault?" Yu asked Richard with a anticipating grin.

"Commander, do you have a voice sample that I can use?" Keikyo asked his squad leader, who immediately nodded, pressing a few buttons on his portable communicator, as it repeated the words of the first victim of Richard's infiltration. Keikyo immediately pulled out a recording device, that beeped in recognition of the voice, as he nodded to Richard. "The voice is recorded inside the thing. You should be able to replicate the voice with the altered vocal data."

"Good, because I think that reporting is about to occur." Richard said, gesturing to the communicator that Richard left, as it crackled on.

"DF-2145? DF-2145?" The commander called. "There are people who are not reporting back to me at the specified time. Respond if you are there. Is there complications on your side?"

Richard walked up to the communicator, before pressing a button on his communicator, and then clearing his throat gently.

"This is DF-2145, I read you, commander." Richard spoke in the storm-trooper's voice. "I have observed no complications on my side. Is there something wrong?"

"I cannot say for sure." The commander answered back. "Seeing that you were able to respond, I can rule out that there is communication problems. All of the units in your sector fell silent. Report to me any recent events."

"The other members of the patrol are investigating disturbances. Someone detected a unknown signature somewhere, so they took most of the troopers in the sector to investigate." Richard responded back. "As of now, they have not made any reports. I only fear that they must have been silently taken out by hidden forces."

"Damn... And here I thought that the development of our trap would be going off without a hitch." The commander sighed. "Alright, DF-2145, tell me, which direction was the disturbance?"

"Southwards, commander." Richard answered back. "They didn't pass over any of the areas that the other squads are patrolling. I'll be standing guard here, in order to ensure that the area is at least under the supervision of one of us, sir."

"Good, then I grant you permission to continue, soldier. Do not hesitate to report any strange occurrences to us. I'll dispatch some squads towards the direction you specified." The commander stated. "Over and out, DF-2145."

"Over and out, commander." Richard answered back, before cutting the communications, reverting back to his normal voice. "That should reduce the security of the complex for a while. Keikyo, do you have your portable drone?"

"Never left for battle without it, Richard." Keikyo chuckled, producing a sizeable flight drone. "Need me to cut through the digital security and cams for you?"

"Do so." Richard answered back. "Once I made clear that all of the surveillance and alarm systems are disabled from the control room, I'll order you all to make a full offensive to dismantle the outpost. Make sure that you don't draw too much attention. No big explosions, or anything that will draw attention faraway. That goes double for you, Yu."

"Well, I guess I'll do it your way, commander." Yu said, with a sheepish rub of the back of his head. "Take care, will you? I rather not lose you, because I kind of like you as my boss."

Richard merely smiled and nodded, before he then reengaged his camouflage, before silently opening the entrance to the outpost and entering it. Keikyo immediately activated the drone, as it took flight, and flew across the outer edge of the outpost.

As he slowly passed through, he made sure to pass each of the Stormtroopers in his way carefully, only taking them out if he was certain that he could not walk past them, while the drone made sure to alter the footage of each of the survelliance cameras to loop footage of empty corridors and rooms through remote hacking, as Richard managed to make a clean entry into the control room, where he found two black-suited Imperial officers sitting there.

Richard then let the door close shut with a quiet hiss, before he then pulled out his weapon, a pistol with a ink-black body, and various pipes that transferred energy to the barrel of the weapon. He then whistled, catching the attention of the officers, startling them while he disengaged his camouflage, and fired two shots that vaporised the heads of the officers before they could even snap out of the shock, as their headless bodies landed on the ground with two consecutive thumps.

He then pulled out a square tablet with latches on all of its edges, before he placed it on the control room's main console, as the tablet immediately turned itself on, slowly running through various lines of code, slowly cracking through the Empire outpost's digital defences and accessing the inner data, before it then shut down all of the alert system and surveillance.

"Mission complete." Richard smirked to himself, before tapping on his communicator to activate it. "The web entangled the fly. I repeat, The web entangled the fly."

"Roger that, commander." Tatsuki answered back. "We'll rendezvous at the command room. Are you still going to take the stealth approach?"

"As much as I love to join you all, I must decline. I'll find the command room, and then relieve the commanding units of their duty. After that, I might set the outpost to self-destruct, if possible." Richard answered back. "You can handle yourselves, so make as much noise as you want. The enemies don't have any means of contacting reinforcements to help them, and by the time they reach the outpost, they'll find that it was too late."

"Woo! You heard the commander, let's rock this place into the ground!" Yu cried, as the sound of energy thrumming could be heard from his side.

"Oh dear, I'll take care of Yu." Rina quickly said. "Please take care, commander. I'll make sure that everyone can still fight in this war."

"Good girl." Richard complimented Rina. "Just let Yu and Tatsuki do most of the work. Don't get yourself hurt, it's hard to treat yourself than it is to treat others."

"I... Understood, commander." Rina said, before the communications were closed.

"Right..." Richard said, before looking the bodies, and then shrugging. "Not like spotting the corpses would matter anymore. They'll have bigger problems to deal with soon enough."

Richard then heard a distant explosion, as his smile grew wider, while he pulled the hacking tablet off the panel, and back onto his inventory. "Just as I planned."

He then slowly walked out of the control room, reactivating his camouflage, humming a familiar tune to himself, as he slowly explored the outpost for himself, while he let the now-alerted stormtroopers pass by him, before he managed to walk past a corridor, with a window towards where the Unison Squad were fighting the Empire forces, as Yu was standing before them, wielding a massive chain-gun that fired green blasts that blew the cover of the Empire forces to pieces quite effectively, while Tatsuki had a long assault-rifle with a stock, using it to gun down the exposed troops.

"Wahahaha! Come and get some, imperial brats!" Yu mocked. "Uncle Yu got more than enough for everyone to enjoy!"

Some of the troops tried to ambush Yu from another corner, before they found themselves stunned by electricity originating from several trigger mines on the ground, as Keikyo immediately pulled out a pistol and shot each of them with a killing blow to their heads.

"Well, I didn't expect that this fight would be easy." Keikyo remarked, before turning around, and deploying a large energy shield that protected them from the laser blasts. "This is much easier than our last mission."

"We shouldn't let our guard down, just because of that." Tatsuki told him. "Who knows what could happen. We're only dealing with their infantry here. There's no telling if their vehicles might be harbingers of death by themselves."

Richard couldn't help but shake his head with a amused smile. '_Silly Tatsuki... Vehicles are for serious people._' He mentally quipped, before proceeding through the outpost.

He then slowly continued down the corridors, before he then noticed that the command room was right in front of him, as one of the leading personnel just exited from it, alerting Richard to its presence.

'_Well now. Looks like I found what I wanted.'_ Richard thought to himself with a sense of accomplishment, as he immediately stuck to the wall, inching slowly towards the door controls to open the door. '_If I know the Empire well enough, they would be stupid enough to leave their command room unguarded, without any digital or physical locks to crack open._'

He then slowly took a close look at the door controls, as they seem to be locked by a basic encryption. '_Huh. Guess my hunch was wrong. Ah well, I have my hacking gadget at the ready._'

Richard then placed the hacking tablet onto the door controls, as he disengaged his camouflage, before preparing his loadout to breach the command room alone. He immediately teleported in a two-handed light machine gun with twin barrels on the front end of it, as well as a yellow orb that was slotted in the center of the weapon, and a small grenade of transparent material, that had some sort of bright energy swirling in.

'_Alright, going over the plan: Chuck lingering flashbang, and then fire at all targets before they can react._' Richard thought. '_Simple enough, I done harder._'

The tablet then confirmed that the encryption is broken with a beep, as Richard immediately pocketed it, before moving one hand onto the door controls, with the other holding the flashbang in his hand.

'_At the count of 3... 3... 2... 1... BREACH!_' Richard mentally counted down, activating the flash-bang and throwing it in with a quick under-hand lob at the same time the doors slid open.

He immediately slid some dimming shades over his eyes, just as the room exploded in a bright flash of yellow and white light, as he swerved through the door, as he noticed that the guarding soldiers were left unable to pinpoint their target, frantically looking around in the blinding light.

"Fools." Richard uttered gently, before he then let the LMG rip in his hands, as it fired off electric bolts that electrocuted the officers inside with overly lethal voltage, as they slumped down onto the ground, without even a pulse on them.

"So much for the elite troops." Richard sneered, as he made his way towards the main console for the outpost, as he immediately used it, since it was opened by a officer before the breach, as he slowly worked his way through the system, looking for anything that he could use. After a while, he managed to find a set of coordinates regarding Empire-occupied planets.

"Bingo." Richard said, as he immediately attached the hacking tablet on it, as it entered data transfer with the console, sucking the system dry of the coordinate data. After the process was complete, he continued his search in the system, and came out disappointed.

"Tsk. No self-destruct option?" Richard clicked his tongue. "The Empire must be stupid to not have a contingency. Hell, I don't even see a lockdown protocol here. For the planet that laid a trap for the heroes, the outpost disappoints."

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him, as he came face-to-face with a squad of stormtroopers, with their blaster at the ready.

"Halt! In the name of the Empire, you are to be taken prisoner for your crimes of subterfuge, murder of military personnel, and illegal theft of data!" The stormtrooper leading the squad commanded. "Put your weapon down, and come quietly, if you expect to live!"

"My my, looks like I'm finally found." Richard chuckled lightly, not the slightest bit intimidated by the enemies surrounding him. "Too bad that it won't matter, because you have the unfortunate coincidence of being in my warpath. I hope you've made peace with yourself, because you are all going to die, by our hands."

The stormtrooper commander immediately took that as a threat, as he ordered the stormtroopers to fire at Richard, who immediately dived for cover. He then blind-fired from his cover, taking down some of the stormtrooper that were too sluggish to dodge the returning fire, while the others made for cover as well, as they were suppressed by the continuous fire laid by Richard.

He then vaulted over the cover, as he dashed right in front of a line of stormtroopers, as he shot them all down with rapid gunfire, and snapping in and out of cover, dodging anything they could fire at him, before then doing the same thing onto the next row of stormtroopers in cover, until the enemies in the room were completely wiped out by Richard's aggressive tactics.

Richard then took the moment to immediately eject a smoking clip from his gun, before he slapped a fresh new clip onto it, as it made a resounding click in the weapon, as the yellow orb turned red.

'_May as well cause as much mayhem as I can. This is the best I can settle for. Reducing the number of stormtroopers that can assist in Bespin significantly, is already a big help for Luke and the others.'_ Richard thought, before he then made his way out to the corridors, as he saw that the stormtroopers just rushed into his line of sight, unaware of his position. '_Oh goodie, some more idiots have came to die._'

Richard then continued down the corridors, as he used his heavy-duty weapon to gun down any enemies that got in his way, making a path of corpses and destruction in his wake, until he arrived where the window that showed the rest of his team was, as they were still holding well at the landing pad, as the number of enemies has drastically decreased, mainly because of a lack of reinforcements from the continuous exhaustion of manpower. With a thought, he teleported himself back with his team, as they noticed his arrival.

"Hey, commander!" Yu greeted him with a smile. "I found out that these bastards are many like a swarm of bugs. But they can't shoot if it mattered. Most of the shots from the white guys didn't even hit me, and I was already a big target."

"I see. The Empire prefer numbers over quality. Guess they will come to regret it when we wiped this outpost to the last man." Richard responded, before he noticed that one of the doorways to the landing pad was completely destroyed, as the bridge was completely destroyed, and the ground was literally a mess. "...You used the Tenpu, did you?"

"Can't deny that. I got a little tired of trying to rile them up, and decided to just outright bash them out of existence with my trademark weapon." Yu grinned. "With it, no fight is ever boring. I never got tired of seeing how my baby tore their ranks, as one of them actually screamed like a baby."

Richard could barely hold his laughter, at the fact that Yu heard the infamous Wilheim scream for himself. "Well, my mission was mostly a success. We can't scrap this outpost, and I rather not split our forces just to occupy a desolate outpost, so we're going to leave, and let them take it back. Still, losing commanding personnel is no joke. They are hurt by this assault, even if it means a little. After all..."

Richard then charged up energy from his weapon, as it fired off a massive fireball that exploded spectacularly, wiping the last of the defenders. "...All it takes is a small wound, for it to fester into a fatal one." He wisely imparted on his teammates. "So Rina, status on teammates?"

"Everyone's green. No injuries thanks to the incompetent accuracy of our enemies." Rina answered back. "We won't have to do a mission like this again? Holding out like this is quite dangerous in my opinion."

"Noted. But at least with the data I leeched from the outpost's databases should give my mind some rest. No more having to do guesswork on warp coordinates." Richard responded back. "Anyway, Unison squad, mission complete, returning to base."

He then tapped his comms. "XO, what's the situation in space?" Richard asked his second-in-command, the one on the ship.

"Nothing, sir. The outpost didn't broadcast any distress signals intra-planet, or inter-sector either." Was the reply. "Your extraction should be all clear to do by your means, commander."

"Very well." Richard answered back, as he immediately summoned a sukima beside. "See you in 10 minutes. I'll feed the data into the network, and don't worry about any viruses. I'm sure that our 'friend' has a means of dealing with them."

He then entered the portal, as he immediately warped out of the outpost, and the planet itself.


	4. Rescue

Unmei Force: Retailiation

Chapter 3: Rescue

* * *

_In the GFS Izanagi..._

Richard was standing on the bridge, as he was waiting for the results of the analysis of the data from the outpost he raided. The UGF fleet have managed to use several hyperspace lanes to leave the Javin sector, before Empire Forces could arrive there, in order to retake their outpost in Bespin.

He tapped his fingers impatiently on his thighs, until the installed holographic projector activated, as it showed a near-perfect rendition of Erika.

"Richard, I managed to check the data as you wanted." Erika told Richard. "I made sure to punish any of the naughty protocols that tried to ruin our attempt. Everything you need is in a little file."

"Thank you, Erika." Richard answered back. "I cannot express how much I am grateful for the help you have given me. I expected that a smart girl like you, with the power of Hudiemon at her side, would do this kind of task like its a daily task."

"You really like to praise me, don't you." Erika chuckled. "Well, I'd like to be praised more from everyone. So go on, praise me more."

"Now now, no need to get greedy." Richard scolded Erika gently with a finger-wag. "You've done enough. Don't forget that everyone also has a part in ensuring that you were able to do this. Me and my friends for bringing this data, and the kappas for being able to contain the data into your little 'lab' for you to work on."

"Hmph. Well, you still needed me. Anyway, I'm going to see if there is anything more. There's still a lot of data to go through, and they're trickier to get through than the other parts." Erika replied, before she disappeared from the projector.

Richard then immediately pressed a button on the bridge's console, as it displayed a incomplete map of the galaxy, as it contained most of the planets in all four regions, as well as several large and small hyperspace lanes to use for their own benefit.

"Hm..." Richard hummed, as he studied the map closely. "There should be a path that we should take. If I were to take the head off the snake, as I said, I'd go for Corusant and get the fleet to go on a murder spree onto the high command there. But not only it would be a waste of resources, doing such a thing would be a death-trap to all who try, considering the orbital defences, and the density of the defensive fleet there. There has to be a better way to push the war into our favour... Or at least in the Rebellion's favour..."

Richard was about to shut the map off, before the holographic projector suddenly reactivated, as Erika came back to notify Richard of something.

"Richard, I think you might want to have a look at this... I think that something bad is about to happen." Erika stated, as she transferred her new findings to Richard.

Richard immediately examined the data, as he read through the orders and other documents in it. When he did, his expression turned into one of disbelief and shock, before he then activated the audio recording inside of it, playing in the bridge.

"_Sir, your_ orders?" The recorded voice of a Empire Commander was heard.

"_Order an attack on __Kashyyyk. I want an massacre of the Wookiees, in order to deny them any more reinforcements for the Rebellion._" Tarkin's voice was heard from it next. "_If I cannot secure control over them, then I will make sure that they will not be able to rebel against us at all, by reducing their forces and their population to a controllable degree._"

"_It shall be as you wish_." The Empire Commander responded back, as the audio recording ended there.

Richard immediately slammed his fists on the console, when he heard the order, with his teeth grit.

"Son of a bitch... So I struck gold there. Looks like the orders for the massacre of Kashyyyk are there." Richard hissed. "I don't know if we're too late or too early to stop it, but no way in hell that I'm going to idle by, when I have some intelligence. If I can help the Wookiees, then it would be proof to the Rebellion that we're of the same goal as them..."

Richard then turned to his bridge crew. "Men, make a course for Kashyyyk." Richard ordered. "What is our current hyperspace lane?"

"According to stolen Empire Data, this should be the Nothoiin Corridor." A female crewmember responded back. "We're planning a stop at Eriadu, so that we can cool the warp drive's systems."

"Then make haste from the Hydian Way, until we reach Trellen. From there, the Trellen Trade Route should be able to take us there directly." Richard quickly plotted the remainder of the course from their current hyperspace lane to the designated planet. "And quickly. Reroute all non-essential power to warp drive cooling systems if you must. The Empire may be aware slightly from our unwelcome attack on Bespin, but they won't bat a eye on us, until we thwart a significant or major advance."

"Understood. Relaying orders to all technical staff." A male crew-member reported back.

* * *

_At the orbit of Kashyyyk..._

Within several hours, the UGF fleet arrived at the lush green Earth-like planet, as the fleet spotted a small orbital detachment of Empire ships, that were launching drop pods onto the planet itself.

"So we did arrive on time." Richard said with a sigh of relief. "It's too late to stop the drop-pods from entering atmosphere. And orbital bombardment and denial would prove useless. Our only option here is to prepare for a ground skirmish. Notify the carriers and all drop-pod capable ships. They are to send their ground detachments to Kashyyyk, their boots on the ground as safely as possible. And deploy all fighters as well. We need to ensure that our casualities during planet-side entry is kept to a bare minimum."

"Are you going to deploy with your squad as well, Commander?" The executive officer asked his superior.

"Of course. I've got to lead my men by example, to bolster their morale and effectiveness." Richard replied back. "If the Empire fleet gets any bright ideas about trying to directly attack our own, you know what to do."

"I will ensure that they won't try anything." The executive officer answered back. "We seem to possess several advantages over them, even in space combat."

Richard then patted the executive officer twice on the cap, as a gesture of respect and 'good-luck', before then entering the bridge's elevator, descending towards the upper corridors of the ship.

He immediately made his way to the ship's main elevators, as many of the men came in as well, including Fox who was geared up, and took position next to Richard.

"So, looks like this is a mission in ground and space?" Fox asked his friend. "You're leading the ground forces, right?"

"Hm. Take care of the space for me, Fox. It's your forte after all. So make them feel the terror of the UGF's space force, with your own ace piloting skills." Richard replied back. "Should I loan you Phoenix Alter? It's a real piece of work, and EVO is more than happy to help assist you in using it."

"Nah, it's your own fighter. Personally, I prefer the Arwing line." Fox said with a hint of humour in it, as he mock-posed like his former wing-bird Falco, spreading his arms out like a proud bird. "After all, you guys are working hard with the Cornerian Foundation to revolutionise it into something greater than even your little fighter, right? I can handle using this thing, even if it becomes a old relic by the time we come back."

"Don't worry, you'll still be fresh news with your feats." Richard answered back, as the elevator doors opened. "See you on the battlefield, Fox. And see you when I return from the planet."

Fox raised his hand to respond, before then sprinting off towards the fighter docks, as Richard and the ground troops split off towards where the larger transport craft were. There, he meet the Unison Squad, awaiting their leader.

"Commander, we've been waiting for you!" Tatsuki called out.

"Good, everyone on the ship. We need to get our feet and wheels on the ground, now!" Richard replied, as he, along with the squad and the ground battalion that was under their command, all docked into their transport ship, vehicle and infantry all.

He then made his way to the cockpit of the ship, where the seats reserved for the officers were, as the Unison Squad took a seat each, while Richard stood over right in front, beside the pilot and co-pilot, the pilot a black-haired human and the co-pilot a white-haired wolf tengu, both dressed in an orange-white pilot suit.

"Commander, we're about to disembark! Please take a seat!" The pilot told his commander.

"Don't worry, I will be taking a seat. But not here." Richard answered back, before he then ran through the ship, until he rose up one of the hatches, as he found himself in one of the armoured dorsal turrets, that was a two-seater, with an oni sergeant taking one of them.

"Oh, commander? I never thought you wanted a piece of the action as well." The sergeant stated, before smiling. "Welcome to my little piece of paradise, sir. I get to enjoy blasting things to bits here."

"Sorry for intruding on your fun." Richard answered back, as he leapt into one of the seats, taking the turret controls in both hands. "Mind if I join in on your little rampage then?"

"By all means! I'll be glad to kill with my superior by my side!" The oni said. "Wanna bet who can shoot down the most of those bastards before we land?"

"What's your wager? The finest wine of all of Gensokyo? I have several bottles of them, prizes for those who have earned it with their awards and feats." Richard answered back. "My counter-wager is nothing, but the satisfaction of proving that my authority is not over-compensation for the combat prowess and power I hold at my fingertips."

"You really know how to make an rough oni like me happy!" The sergeant laughed heartily. "I'll take you up for that bet. Don't cry if I beat you fair and square."

Richard merely scoffed with a smirk, as the ship began to take flight as it exited the spaceship. As the armed transport ship left, the others have departed as well, as they advanced towards the planet.

While they were flying, the Empire's space forces began to notice the unknown transport ships approaching them, as waves of TIE fighers came, as they came into conflict with the UGF's space fighters and the turrets of the transport craft.

"Here they come! Now's the time to start counting your kills!" The oni cried, as he clasped the controls.

"You better not cheat! It will be a sore blow if I lost to a oni who cheated!" Richard shouted back with a hint of mock-anger.

They both then fired upon the approaching TIE fighters, as both of them dispatched them with rapid bursts of plasma bolts that blew them all to pieces, swivelling left and right to take them all down.

As Richard focused his efforts on taking down enemies, he noticed that several of his kills were being stolen by Fox, who gracefully shot them down before Richard could land a bolt on them.

"Son of a-!" Richard swore. "Go get your own kills, Fox! I got a bet to win!"

This continued for a while, until the transport craft managed to reach the planet's outer atmosphere, as the turrets automatically powered down, to avoid any misfire.

"I guess that's it." Richard muttered, before turning to his competitor. "How many kills?"

"I'd say 32. You, commander?" The oni said.

"It was a close one. I had... 31." Richard spoke with a sigh. "Looks like you win. I'll be sure to drop that wine as you promised. And congratulate yourself, as one of the people in our army who actually managed to beat me in a fair wager or duel."

"Ha ha, I'm glad to have that kind of feat on my record!" The oni spoke with goodwill and joy. "Don't worry, commander, it was a close one, after all. I was actually expecting a tie, considering how good you were with it. Was the last enemy you saw the one you were just about to take out, before the turrets locked up? If so, then I must be lucky."

Soon, the ship managed to reach the forest-filled grounds of the planet, which also had spire-like buildings around the area.

"Well, this is my stop." Richard said, as he immediately left the turret seat, and grabbed the ladder.

"Good luck out there, commander. It would be a shame if you were dead, when I brag my victory to my drinking buddies!" The oni exclaimed.

Richard then smiled at that, as he immediately climbed back down into the bowels of the ship, as he immediately armed himself with the light machine-gun that he had in his previous mission, as the Unison Squad came to him, equipped in their respective military loadouts. After making final checks on their gear, the squad left the transport ship, along with the troops inside. There were also several crimson-coloured armoured tanks deployed, with a large cannon in front of them, and a mounted MG on both the back and front, and several aerial Apache-like helicopters that had an reinforced cockpit and twin vulcan cannons on the front.

"To all forces, if you meet anything that is furry and wields crossbows, they are the local inhabitants of this planet, the Wookiees." Richard broadcast his words through the army's communication channel. "We are not to provoke any hostility from them. We have a unfortunate language barrier, so any attacks they make are under the implication that we are with the Empire. Even if they attack you, do not attack them back and focus on the Empire. If they see that you are their ally, they will make sure that you have their trust and attention. This is your commander, Richard Liu, relaying your most current orders. Over and out."

He then immediately advanced, as he vaulted over various obstacles in his way, sprinting through the entire battlefield, until he heard the sounds of battle somewhere else.

"Over here!" Richard called, as he changed his path towards the direction of the sounds. As expected, he managed to see the view of the Wookiee military forces and the Empire infantry clashing with each other, and there were also the mechanical bi-pedal vehicles AT-STs, that were firing at the Wookiees either up close or from afar.

Richard then immediately opened fire on the closest Empire troops, initiating a flank attack that caught the Empire troops by surprise, as they were quickly decimated by the assault coordinated with the battalion with them, as magic-filled tank slugs burst into colourful explosions, and both lightning and wind bolts struck and pierced through the enemy armour.

As they kept on their assault, the Wookiees regarded the UGF battalion with uncertain eyes, as they didn't know whether they were ally or foe, despite how they're particularly aiming for the Empire Forces, before they continued their battle against the Empire, considering the UGF forces as a neutral force towards them for now.

When the Empire forces in the area has been destroyed, Richard immediately warped himself in front of where he assumed the commanders of the Wookiee army was, as he appeared right in front of a Wookiee chieftain, armed with silver pauldrons and a modified bowcaster in his hands, with a ceremonial blade on his back.

Richard immediately activated his comms, with a single press. "Technicans, is there any way that you will be able to translate Shyriiwook, the language of the people here?" He asked the people on the other side. "They might be able to understand us, but I'll need to know what they want."

"That will be nearly impossible to achieve, without any related languages to use as reference, or any expressions or samples to estimate meanings from." The head technican on the other side. "The only hope we can have, is for you to record the conversation, so that we can make future references."

"Got it. Stand-by for live recording of conversation." Richard answered back, before he then turned to the wookiee chieftain. "Greetings to you, esteemed chieftain of the locals. We do not wish you harm, and merely came to the aid of a galactic species that was about to be the recipient of a massacre. As men of equality, we cannot allow such an act to proceed."

The wookiee chieftain looked at his personal guards, before he then let out a series of growls and purrs.

"I'm afraid I cannot understand you. If you can understand my words, then please allow me to introduce myself." Richard responded back. "My name is Richard Liu, Lieutenant Colonel of the United Gensokyo Forces. We are a minor faction that has been threatened by the Empire into war, and we are seeking to find allies in our mission to defeat the Empire once and for all. All I ask is that we forge a non-aggression treaty between our people, until the Empire forces have been repelled. Afterwards, we will leave this planet. Do these conditions stand with you, chieftain?"

The wookiee chieftain purred gently in a pondering manner, before he then placed a furred hand out for Richard.

"You... You wish to accept this pact?" Richard asked back, before then grabbing it and shaking it gently with gratitude in his voice. "I am grateful for your trust. Let us work together to protect your people. I will make sure that your young and elderly, as well as all of your civilians will be safe with our protection."

He then stroked the chieftain's arm gently with his other hand, as the chieftain smiled lightly, giving up a few happy growls.

"I will take my leave, and push my armies forward." Richard answered back, as they let go of each other's hands. "May your people prosper, wise leader.

He then teleported back to where his battalion was, as they saw another wave of Empire Troops coming before them, as the Wookiees immediately began attacking them.

"Now that a truce has been formed, there is no need to worry about any misunderstandings." Richard commanded. ! Attack, but do not try to demolish the environment. This nature around us is their own home, so we are not to cause infractions regarding it!"

The army let out a collective roar of agreement, as they rushed forward, the vanguard, consisting of shielded assault troopers, clashed with the enemy head-on, as they peppered the enemy with fiery bursts of gunfire from their modified shotguns and grenade launchers, and snipers used the higher ground to snipe out the enemy's advancing forces from above.

Richard was in the midst of it all, as he immediately leapt into the air, as he slowly let himself descend, before firing off precise shots that rained from his position above, gunning down the Empire troops that were behind cover, or hiding amongst the flora of the planet. When one of the AT-STs angled itself slightly to aim for Richard, he immediately spun around to dodge the large laser bolts that were coming his way, before he then peppered the legs of the walking vehicle, blowing the joints and causing it to fall on the ground, as the crew tried to escape from it, only to be gunned down by the rest of the UGF's troops.

"Advance! Advance!" Richard shouted to his troops. "Don't let up at all! We will bring these Empire bastards down, or out of this planet!"

Yu was firing off various explosives into the battlefield, as it tore the ranks of the enemies apart in spectacular bursts of magic and destruction, as the force in front of them were forced to retreat.

Rina was taking care of the enemies from afar with her assault rifle, before he heard a loud cry of agony from nearby her position, which caused her to refocus her attention to finding the injured soldier. She sprinted through the battlefield, sticking between cover-to-cover, until she managed to reach where the distressed cry came from, as it was from a soldier who was incapacitated by enemy fire, as the singed burns of laser fire coated his armour, and some of them burnt right through it, into the skin, causing second-degree and third-degree burns on it.

"I'm here... I'm here..." Rina spoke in a hushed and nurturing tone, as the soldier merely groaned in pain, before she slowly dragged him out of the crossfire, behind cover, before she then opened her med-kit, searching for the tool to treat the injured. "Hang on a little longer, I'll patch you up. Retreat back to the dropship, and recover. Commander needs every man for this mission, and he will not tolerate the death of his men."

"I'll... take that advice..." The soldier grunted back, before smiling with a pained expression. "Man, I get to meet a kind angel like you in this hell-hole... I guess it's my lucky day."

"Shh... Focus on combating the pain in you." Rina told the soldier, as she pulled out some intensive burn cream, and bandages, as she slathered the burn cream on the wounds, as she made sure to put more on the third-degree burns, that managed to burn through several layers of skin already, as the soldier whined in agony, as she treated the more severe of her wounds, gritting his teeth, as tears of pains leaked from his eyes. "You're going to make it, just hang in there. We'll get a medic to treat the more severe of the injuries on your ship."

She then immediately wrapped the bandages over the wounds, in order to prevent the burns from being infected, as she then backed away, as the soldier got up slowly, limping slightly from the damage done to his lower half. He then muttered a silent thanks, before jogging back towards the deployment point, where the spacecrafts would be.

Tatsuki noticed the retreating soldier, as he immediately redoubled his efforts, as he gunned down the enemies on the front-line, who could possibly try to gun down the retreating soldier, covering him until he disappeared through the line of trees, indicating his successful retreat.

Keikyo was immediately deploying auto-turrets on the vanguard, in order to help assist the front-line troops in their advance, as he tweaked and set up each one of them himself, and they immediately began their work upon activation, peppering the enemy infantry with relentless gunfire.

Eventually, the UGF forces pushed the Empire forces, thanks to the combined might of their forces, as their superior firepower caused their enemies' morale to plummet with each moment, until they broke rank to retreat, towards their own dropships, as several of them managed to escape, while others weren't lucky enough to escape, being shot down by heavy weapon fire from the army.

When the last of the Empire retreated from the planet, the Wookiees let out a victorious cry, as the UGF did one of their own. Richard lifted his weapon, letting a cry of victory and pride.

"And yet another victory comes to us! Let the Empire know that we of Gensokyo, are a threat that they'll regret facing!" Richard screamed to the skies.

Soon the allied dropships made their way to the army, as they picked up all of the remaining ground forces, making their retreat from the planet. As Richard boarded one of them, he turned back to see the Wookiee chieftain standing below them, with the entirety of the Wookiee force, as they let out a combined cry of gratitude.

"You're welcome." Richard stated simply, with a quick salute, as the dropship's hatch slowly closed.

He then slowly made his way to the cockpit, as he immediately picked up the dropship's cockpit communicator. "This is Commander Richard Liu." Richard stated to his fleet. "Has the Empire tried to engage us?"

"No. We harassed their space fleet, to the point that once their ground troops has returned, they immediately made a hyperspace jump out of the sector." The executive officer of his flagship responded back. "We have Major Fox Mccloud to thank for contributing to victory in our front."

"Is that so? Well then, we're returning to base." Richard answered back. "How goes Reimu and the others?"

"They're retreating back, without any severe causalities." The XO stated. "We are now planning a course to a safer sector after we-"

"Hey, Richard! You on here?" Sanae interrupted, as her excited voice rang through the comms. "I'm just so happy that we managed to help those poor Wookiees! If this is really the massacre of Kashyyyk, we may as well changed history here! We've earned the gratitude of one of the most powerful and honourable races in this galaxy with this battle!"

"And don't forget the Rebellion." Richard answered back. "They'll be quite pleased when they hear of our deeds. The Empire will eventually bat any eye to us, thanks to this, but we're more than prepared for whatever they might throw at us now. So let them come, I say."

The dropships made a uneventful return to their respective carriers and ships, before the UGF fleet warped out of the space sector, their destination unknown to anyone but themselves.


	5. Intrusion

Unmei Force: Retaliation

Chapter 4: Intrusion

Story Link Active:

Unmei Force Retaliation Chapter 4: Intrusion (-) Team Chronicle Rebellion Chapter. 16: Balance

* * *

_In the GFS Izanagi..._

Richard was taking a rest in his personal quarters on the ship, as he slowly woke up from his fairly decent bed, and dressed up anything that wasn't on him, but is needed. He slowly sheathed his personal pistol, which was standard military gear, with normal bullet rounds loaded in it.

He slowly exited the quarters, as he made his way to the bridge, giving off a few quick greetings to any personnel that he met on the way, with varying reactions, from a salute from patrolling soldiers, and a half-hearted 'hey' from a group of soldiers who were playing cards in one of the rooms with the open doors. He didn't take much note of the responses, except for when he met Gus on the way.

"Oh... Hey." Gus said, as he was holding one of the standard-issue assault rifles in his hands, as the clip had the tell-tale sign of use, being depleted of energy ammunition. "I just took the moment to do some target practice in the shooting range. I'm expecting that you're going to need me at my best."

"Heh. You really know me that well, to have read my mind like that." Richard smirked, before he placed a hand on his forehead. "To be honest, I'm going to have to deal with more than you, right? Leading an army alone isn't as easy it seems from how I do things. I have to set the army an example with my feats, such as ensuring that causalities never happen under my command. Nobody is a perfect commander, especially not me."

"Well, I could take care of some matters for you." Gus suggested. "All you have to do, is swear me in as your right-hand man, and it'll help me deal with some of the matters. I may not be as good as you with leading an army like Yukari and you do, but it's better than you having to judge every priority in so few hands."

"Of course I'd allow that... But I need a reason to achieve that." Richard answered back with a sigh. "You forget that there are many Majors like you, Gus. It would be favouritism if I swore you in without any good reason, since your performance isn't exemplary enough to share second-in-command of my army. But what I can do is give you temporary powers to lead. You've proven that you can act as a independent leader from me, with how many qualities that you have that fit the role. You're strong enough, smart enough, clever enough. Generally, you're eligible. So don't worry, ok?"

"That will do, Richard. That's all I want to tell you." Gus said with a friendly smile. "You're heading to the bridge, right?"

Richard nodded his head. "I need to see if there are any reports to be made to me. I let the XO and his officers take care of matters during my shut-eye." He answered back, before letting out a quiet yawn. "I'm still human after all, and XO seems like that he can handle the night shift for me, since he had his rest before-hand."

"You're right about that." Gus said. "Come, let's take care of matters together."

Gus placed a hand on Richard's shoulder, as Richard turned to him with a thumbs-up, as they both made their way to the bridge through the elevator.

When they reached the bridge, the XO was standing silently, as he watched the bridge crew at work, as they watched over the ship's condition during the entire time, and making calls to various personnel. When he heard Richard and Gus come in.

"Commander Richard... Major Gus..." He said to them. "I see that you have come here for our report, right?"

"Go on with it, XO." Richard gestured with a slight flick of his hand. "I want to see where we have ended up, and if anything happened while I took shut-eye. Obviously, no-one attacked us, otherwise I would have snapped awake to the sound of klaxons and emergency orders from you."

"Well, we're right in the centre of the Seswenna Sector." XO answered back. "We have been intercepting enemy communications and comparing their outposts with the galaxy map, in order to find the optimal place to lay in wait, until we are ordered to assault any other Empire-owned planets."

"Seswenna sector?" Richard asked, before he placed a hand under his chin. "Interesting... Very interesting indeed..."

"Richard, I hope you're not planning on attacking any Empire-owned planets, right?" Gus questioned with a worried tone. "We can't afford to fight the Empire needlessly. I understand why we had to fight in Bespin and Kashyyyk, but we only have so much men and resources to fight."

"You make a good point." Richard responded back. "We need to find a way to restore those resources. What's the status on the fuel of our fleet?"

"We are yellowing." A crew member answered back. "We have enough to make several more hyperspace jumps, depending on how long they are, before we're at critical fuel levels, and would have to refuel immediately."

"Hm... Other military resources?" Richard asked. "Ammunition, gear, vehicle fuel?"

"There is enough to last us a fairly short war with many battles." Another crew member reported back. "We can fight against the Empire with full force if we must."

"Alright, that's all I need to hear." Richard stated. "And any of our long-distance scout drones received any news?"

"No. The ones we have received data from do not show any strange news." A crew member responded back. "We however, have seen the ship 'Unknown Wing', the ship we have seen at Tatooine at our initial arrival, several times in different planets at different times. We traced them from Hoth, Bespin, Tatooine again, and an unknown destination. The only ones we haven't received signal from, are the ones located in the Outer Rim, especially the high-powered one in Endor. Is there something that you needed to observe from there, commander?"

"It's a hunch. I feel like that a massive battle will occur there. If we rout the Empire in that battle, or at least help to weaken them, we will be able to contact the opposing faction, and negotiate a alliance between us, so that we can refuel our ships and gain various resources that can help us take down the Empire." Richard stated.

"Hm... That sounds like a gamble, sir." The XO answered back.

"One must be unafraid to take such gambles." Richard stated. "Just like that there are some gambles that should be never taken, so does gambles that must be taken, no matter the risk, because the consequences of not rising up to it would be greater than failure itself, as a punishment for cowardice. And considering that the Empire have plans for Endor, we need eyes and ears there, as well as we can."

"Commander!" One of the crew members shouted with a urgent tone. "We have finally received feed from the drone stationed at Endor!"

The drone feed showed that the planet was being surrounded by a Empire fleet, as Rebellion ships were coming out of hyperspace, as the two factions contested with each other in a battle for space supremacy, as lasers and projectiles flied across the black expanse, peppering the area with light from both explosions and weapon fire. Richard seemed to recognise the large arrow-shaped dreadnought that was leading the Empire Fleet, as it was the Executor, the commanding ship of Darth Vader.

"So the time has come... I'll see for myself how I fare against a Dark Force master like Darth Vader..." Richard muttered with a smirk, before he then raised his voice. "It seems that the time has come! Crew, relay my orders to the entire fleet: All fleet ships are to head towards Endor, and prepared for immediate deployment! GFS Izanagi will fire off boarding pods at the enemy flagship, for a infiltration assault on the enemy command! GFS Amaterasu is to utilise its full power to destroy enemy spacecraft! GFS Tenshi and GFS Raijin are to act as their captains order, with the exception that direct combat is advised to them!"

"Roger! Transferring orders!" The crew member snapped a salute, as the orders were transferred to the other ships.

Richard then turned to Gus. "Looks like you'll have your opportunity, my friend." Richard stated with a bold tone, before slapping a hand on the shoulder. "I want you to take care of Reimu and the others, with the fight on the ground. Your orders, from me, are to eliminate all Empire blockades and support the Rebellion advance, until they blow the shield generator there."

"Just like the movie. Got it." Gus answered back. "And where will you be going, Richard? Where are you fighting?"

"I'm going to cut the head of the snake myself, and I'm sure as hell going to cauterise the fuck out the wound, like Hercules and the Hydra. Cut a head off, burn it, and no heads shall sprout from it." Richard quipped. "Oh, and by the way, Gus. You should know that ship we have seen before... That fancy ship most definitely belongs to the heroes of this reality, right? That much you know?"

Gus nodded silently, not needing to speak to make his point.

"Good. Because you're going to deal with them." Richard answered back. "If you see David, his cohorts, or anyone who works as his allies... I give you my full permission to do what you wish, so long it doesn't involve spilling the beans about anything we're supposed to keep hush-hush about. Got it? No telling anything that we are generally not allowed to tell to anyone we meet, even if we have trusted them enough. Otherwise, go nuts with what you want to say. Spout the usual idealistic and heroic speeches that you usually make for the people, Gus, just like back in Gensokyo. After all, you've taken my place as the guardian of the Human Village after that incident."

"...I'll keep that in mind." Gus stated with a worried tone. "You really are going to let me do what I want with David and the others?"

"Of course. I trust you, like I said before. Consider this a little final exam for your promotion into leadership." Richard assured Gus. "If you manage to snatch us a victory for our force with Reimu and the others helping you, then no longer are you the meek sheep under a shepherd, but the shepherd himself. You will be able to make your own team independent from me, and you won't have to worry about the consequences of having to be stuck with me. As long as you don't do anything too drastic, you will be able to help this reality as much as you want, like a well and true hero. While I get the rod, you get the carrot, and that's all that matters to me."

"Richard... I..." Gus tried to say, as he was overcome with gratitude and awe at Richard's selfless proposition. "I didn't know that... you would think so much for me..."

"Of course I would. You're my friend, Gus. You stuck with me until the end, even after everything I have done. We quarreled, we fought, we seperated, but we were both bonded to each other as friends to the end. I won't let that loyalty go unrewarded." Richard stated with a warm smile. "Come on, Gus. It's time that you spread your wings like a true phoenix, free of the restrictions of the shadows I have created."

"I... I understand." Gus stated, before he smiled back. "Good luck on your mission. It won't be easy."

"Feh!" Richard spat out with a grin on his lips. "Since when anything was considered easy for me, unless I saw for myself? Don't worry, you know that it takes more than a few aimless troopers and incompetent generals to beat me. Even if they have enhanced tech due to canon interference... They won't be able to withstand the force I'm going to smash down on their heads!"

"Heh... Typical of you, Richard." Gus chuckled lightly. "See you after the battle then."

"See you then." Richard responded back, flicking his head.

They both entered the bridge elevator, as they entered the ship's corridors, and the duo separated from each other. Gus headed for where the other members were, while Richard made his way towards the ship's lab.

As soon as Richard entered the lab, he was met by the sight of a large gauntlet-like device being worked upon by the researchers and technicians inside of the lab. When he came in, the head scientist, a kappa dressed in a light-blue lab coat approached him.

"Ah, commander. You've finally come for the item you have requested for?" The head scientist asked.

"Yep." Richard answered back with a nod. "Is the portable electro-mirror ready?"

"It took us a lot of trial and error to be able to create a device that can reflect energy-based weaponry." The head scientist told him. "But it's easier compared to the more ambitious experiments that you have tasked us with."

The head scientist then walked over to where the gauntlet device was, as he picked it up and handed it to Richard.

"I must warn you, we had to make a few modifications to it, in order to sustain performance." The scientific leader advised Richard, before placing it in his hands. "The device cannot sustain prolonged use, because the energy required for using the gadget will overheat the device. You will have to take moments to cool it down."

"That will do." Richard nodded, as he slid the electro-mirror projector on his arms, as it slowly activated itself. He then tested it with a flick of his arm, as the projector created a murky blue barrier in front of his arm, like a miniature barrier, as he smiled. "It will work when needed right, despite the need to cooldown after each use?"

"No. The cooldown is the only condition we had to impose to make the tech usable." The head scientist answered back. "It has been tested against our own laser-based weaponry, and I can report that the electro-mirror should work as intended, with extremely minimal malfunction rate, thanks to our tinkering."

"Your actions will have my gratitude." Richard answered back, as he dispelled the electo-mirror barrier on his arm, with another flick of his arm. "I will leave you to pursue your other projects."

"Please do so." The head scientist said with a grateful nod. "We'll always do our best for Gensokyo, under the guidance of our savant, Nitori Kawashiro."

Richard then left the lab, as he made his way down to the hangar, as there was a smirk on his lips. When he arrived there, as the elevator doors opened, he was met by the members of the Unison Squad.

"All of you prepared? Everything checked and readied?" Richard asked them simply, to which they nodded silently to. "You should have a good idea of what we're doing, with the orders being transferred to everyone. Either way..."

Richard then cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "...I'm counting on you guys more than ever, so do your best... For the sake of our land."

* * *

_In one of the UGF dropships..._

The remaining members of the Unmei Force were gathered in a single dropship, as they were equipped with military gear. Link forgone his medieval attire for a more futuristic military suit, as it was armed with several plates of protective armour around the torso and limbs, and his weapons consisted of a refined silver blade, and a black shield woven with extremely durable metal. Fox donned his standard pilot gear, with his blaster on his waist, and his destructive rifle on his back. Antonio had twin pistols strapped to his waist, as well as boots that had thrusters on them, to bolster his manoeuvrability during his assault. The others were as they were, as they were decked in armoured military gear, with varying loadouts of the army's weapons on them, suited for each them, such as Marisa having a large and heavy arcane rocket-launcher on her back.

"So, it looks like that we're going to be fighting without Richard this time, eh?" Antonio asked. "Sure would like to see how you'd do as leader, Gus."

"I'm not sure myself, to be honest, but I won't back down. As a leader, I'll make sure that we win this battle for the army." Gus said.

"Heh, looks like the second-banana is finally growing up into a tried-and-true leader." Marisa joked, before she smiled wildly with a thumbs up. "Come on, Gus! You can do it, because I know that you're going to be a great leader, maybe more than Richard himself! You're going to rock this battle, so don't be so worried!"

"...Maybe." Gus stated with a hopeful smile on his lips. "Thanks for the encouragement, Marisa."

"Launching off now!" The pilot called from the cockpit, as the ship began to rumble, as it departed from the GFS Izanagi, into space, where the UGF fleet were already making their first blows onto the Empire Fleet, as some factions of the Empire Fleet changed their target to the UGF fleet, while the Rebellion fleet continued attacking the Empire, seemingly ignoring the UGF, as if they knew that the UGF weren't their enemies.

The dropship continued towards planet-side, as the gunners of the ship were doing their best to drive off any TIE fighters that tried to shoot them down, as rapid bursts of lasers could be felt and heard from inside the ship, as well as the droning sound of shots grazing the hull of the dropship, and explosions from plasma torpedoes being shot down.

"Got another one of those buggers!" The gunner cried out from a distance. "These morons are literally throwing themselves into a barrel, huh? Well, I won't shed a tear for them! Stupid bastards like them are just asking to die!"

The ship then began to shake, as the dropship was entering atmosphere, the soldiers bracing themselves against the turbulence of atmospheric entry. Some of the members who weren't secured down were knocked off their feet, as the vehicles creaked side-to-side, sliding across the floor slightly. Sanae yelped, as the shaking caused her to bump her head hard on the wall, as she hissed in pain, clutching her recently-made bump on her head.

After a few moments, the shaking subsided, as the hatch doors slowly opened to reveal the lightly-packed forests of Endor, as the landscape caused some the soldiers to let out gasps of awe, at how familiar the landscape seemed for some of them, as the natural scenery was part of the world that they lived in.

Gus immediately ignored the urge to admire the landscape, as he looks around for any approaching enemies, before he noticed there were a patrolling squad of Empire speeder-bikes, which was fast-approaching their landing point.

"Enemies approaching!" Gus cried to the men under his command, who snapped their attention to their commander, and the incoming enemy force. "We need to get our feet on the ground now!"

Some of the soldiers immediately disengaged from their safety harnesses, as they immediately pulled out of their weapons.

"Don't worry about it, commander Gus!" One of the elite soldiers that prepared to attack the enemies. "We'll cover your advance, along with the trio from Gensokyo's Daughters!"

"Thank you... I'll get on the ground right now." Gus said, before he turned to Link and the others. "Come on, follow me!"

Gus immediately leapt off the dropship, as he let himself fall for a while, before he used his flight ability to allow him to land safely. Reimu, Sanae, Meiling, and Marisa did the same, while Link used the branches in his way to swing across the forest, using his nimbleness to reach a safe height to drop down from. Fox and Antonio, who were both equipped with thrusters, used them to regulate their descent on the ground.

He glanced back at the dropship, as the elite soldier from before has deployed a mounted turret on the back of the dropship, as he immediately fired off a barrage of laser-fire that mowed the pilots of the vehicles with frightening speed, as the speeder-bikes were also destroyed by the gun-fire.

Gus immediately knelt on the ground, as he used the integrated scope on the assault rifle that he was using to look for any enemies that were approaching him, as he managed to see a group of speeder-bikes coming his way. With steady breath and arms, he let out bursts of fire that hit the heads of each of the troopers, as their dead bodies slumped off their rides, as some of them crashed into the trees and scrapped themselves, while the others lost thrust and propulsion, without any input from their drivers. He then took a moment to wait, to see if there were any enemies coming his way.

"It's all clear for now..." Gus muttered, as he lowered his rifle, before signalling his friends to advance with him, as they moved towards the inactive and functional speeder-bikes on the ground. "We might have some use on those speeder-bikes, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to control it."

"Pft, what's so difficult about it? It's like riding a motorcycle back in those days!" Marisa scoffed. "I'm sure that something like that would just be a hovering motor-cycle, so it works mostly like one, tilt and turn, twist handle to speed up, and additional buttons to use those cannons in front of it."

"Well, I would have to try it... We can use these to reach the battle before most of the army arrives to the main site of the battle. The tengu scouts and vanguard should be there, if they haven't met complications on their landing zones." Gus muttered, before he then boarded one of them, as he activated the ignition on the speeder-bike, as it immediately floated back up, shocking the brown-haired leader slightly. "Woah!"

He slowly steadied the speeder-bike, until he was comfortable, as Marisa immediately walked to his vehicle.

"Say, does this thing has a back-seat, or somewhere I can hop on? Or at least enough room for me to piggy-back onto you?" Marisa asked.

Gus examined the thrumming speeder-bike, from front to back, before he shook his head. "I don't think so. By the looks of it, it's a single-person vehicle."

Marisa nodded, before she then sat on top of the back-end of the speeder-bike. "Too bad, because I don't think you're good enough to shoot and drive with that bike." She stated with a annoyed tone. "Sure, that thing might run like a beast, and they're worried about having more than one person would imbalance the vehicle... But just the front cannons, at least add some side turrets or a shield, if you want a reliable single-person vehicle... Sheesh..."

"You won't fall off back there, right?" Gus asked. "This isn't like joyriding one of the standard land vehicles. You don't even have a proper flat surface to use as the place to hold against."

"I'm pretty sure that I won't fall. I've rode my broomstick before, and this is nothing in comparison." Marisa smirked. "What are you so worried about, just imagine me as your little gunner!"

"Right... Just tell me if you're losing your grip, Marisa." Gus stated, as he warmed the engine of the vehicle with a few short throttles.

"Oh please, I'm worried more about you crashing!" Marisa spoke with fake-horror. "What are you waiting for? Get going, so we can blow those Empire freaks across the sky!"

Gus nodded, before he gestured for the others to take the bikes as well, as Antonio, Sanae, Fox had the pleasure of being the drivers, while Reimu, Meiling, Link being in the 'back-seat' for each respective person, with Link opting to the use of using his personal tether chain to secure himself firmly on the bike, which caught a few weird looks from everyone, although they didn't verbally question the notion.

The speeder-bikes then took off, as the dropship finished landing on the ground, troops of varying types spilling forth from it, following after their leader.

* * *

_In the Executor..._

The stormtroopers were already mobilising, as squads of the white-clad soldiers scurried back and forth the corridors of the ship, as one of the squads were making a quick briefing on the way to the hangar.

"Alright, men... We have recently received reports that the very same unknown force that disrupted our extermination plans on Kashyyyk." The commander of the squad said to his men. "They seem to be quite capable, considering that they managed to take out a considerable size of the Empire fleet with the small fleet of spaceships they have... And their interceptors and fighters... Rumours say that there was a blue-and-white fighter that was untouchable by even the best of our aces, and spread destruction and annihilation in its wake... Not only that, the pilots on their side seemed to be more trained overall than ours... Whatever they are... They must have been spending decades plotting against the Empire..."

"What do we do?" One of the men asked. "Surely we can handle them and the Rebellion at the same time! They're just two separate factions that lack the power they have to overcome the Empire! We can easily defeat them, even if they work together."

"Together... I dread to think what would happen if that force made contact with the Rebellion... If that force is just as powerful as the Rebellion, if not stronger... Then not even the Emperor's wiles and our strongest assets would be able to protect us from such a mighty force..." The commander muttered.

"Sir, we have to get out there! The side that was engaging with the other enemy force is being torn to pieces greatly! If we don't give reinforcements to them, then they'll penetrate through this flank, and we'll risk a complete pincer attack from both hostile forces!" Another squadmate cried with desperation.

"Calm yourself! We have our orders, and that is to make planetside! If the shield generator on the surface is destroyed, then the Death Star will be exposed for destruction!" The commander snapped back. "If we can hold back long enough, they'll be forced to retreat, and we'll be able to make a theoretical victory out of this battle, no matter the losses that may occur!"

Suddenly, the ship shook heavily, as the stormtroopers were immediately floored, as they slowly got up, as the lights on the ship flickered for a moment, as if trying to sustain itself from the damage it took.

"What... What was that...!?" Another of the commander's men cried. "Did something hit us!?"

"I don't know... But we have to make haste, if they have made it to the Executor already..." The commander responded back with a low voice, as he slowly picked up the pace, sprinting down the hallway. "On me, men!"

"Sir, yes sir!" His squad cried, as they picked themselves up and followed their superior down the hallway.

Before they could reach the end of the hallway, the entire hallway was shook with a much greater force than before, as the Stormtroopers were immediately sent flying everywhere, as some of them were knocked out by concussions when their heads banged against the walls of the corridor. The commander, being the only one that was still awake on his team, noticed that the corridor was completely dark, as the lights lost power from being dislodged from the ship's power source. After a brief moment, the reserve power turned the lights back on, as the wall on one side of the corridor had a large circular hole, that was plugged by a large round tubular object, as the front had some doors in front of it.

"What in the name of...!?" The commander muttered, before he saw the doors of the object be thrown off of the front by a powerful kick from the other side, as Richard and the rest of the Unison Squad exited the cylindrical passage, along with some people who had bunny ears on their heads like Reisen and Rina.

"Well, that was one hell of a ride..." Richard muttered, as he brushed himself off, as he pulled out a silver blade with the curved edge of a katana, as the blade itself was thrumming with a quiet hum. "Never thought that the infil would be that violent."

The commander immediately collected himself, as he immediately raised his blaster rifle at Richard, about to shoot him. However, Richard already perceived the threat from the commander, as he immediately slipped against the wall, as he rushed to the commander, sticking against the wall, as the commander tried to turn his gun to fire at Richard.

However, he was too late, as Richard reached a close enough distance to reliably attack him, as he swung his blade up, right through the commander's right arm, severing it cleanly, as blood spurt from both severed points, the amputated arm falling to the ground uselessly, as he screamed in pain and agony, as he fell to the ground, clutching his bloody stump, to try and stem the bleeding.

The soldiers with Richard immediately trained their rifles at both ends of the corridors, as the ones facing his way were keeping their weapons trained on the weakened commander, and the unconscious stormtroopers. Richard immediately kicked the commander on his back, and pinned him to the ground with a foot.

"Hello there. I assume that you're with the Empire, aren't you?" Richard asked. "Your first fault was trying to surprise me. I always assume that enemies are everywhere I don't look, and I know how to avoid enemy fire, much to your misfortune. Now then, you're going to answer me a question. Do that, and I'll stem your bleeding and knock you unconscious."

"What... is it...?" The commander groaned through grit teeth. "...I will... never betray the... Empire to you..."

"You don't need to." Richard answered back. "You just have to tell me the way to the ship bridge. Don't worry, I won't blow this ship, because I have certain things to do with it. And by the way, before you ask, I was the one who assaulted the Bespin Outpost, for your information, if you haven't figured it out already."

"It can't be... A single squad like you... managed to wipe out an entire outpost...!" The commander replied with a strained reply. "What kind of beings are you...?"

"That is not of your concern. Time's ticking, you know... I already assume that you've lost a lot of blood already, enough to make you feel weak." Richard responded back emotionlessly, as he wagged a finger in front of the commander, like a metronome's hand. "Bleeding out is a most painful death, and I prefer to have a win-win situation here. You and your men get to live to fight another day, and I'll have the info I need to disable this ship. Oh, and by the way, if you won't tell me, then I'll just trash this entire ship to the point of near-destruction and put out an order for every single Empire personnel on this ship to be hunted down and killed. So tell me, how much is your loyalty to the Empire, compared to your ethics, commander?"

"...You wouldn't dare to do that..." The commander tried to retort back.

"Oh? This is war, commander. Everything goes. Massacres, betrayals, lies, the works. In war, there is no true moral bottom line, only those that have been agreed upon by the involved factions." Richard argued back. "Stop stalling for time, and tell me. Or else I'll make true of the statement of making you bleed out most painfully. Either you tell me the way, or everyone here dies. This is my final warning."

The commander became silent, as he questioned whether he should believe Richard's words or not, before he merely sighed.

"Alright... I'll tell you..." The commander stated in a defeated tone. "Take this corridor, and take the elevator to the maintenance level. There is a direct elevator to the bridge from there. It is the shortest route I have in mind, as well as the least patrolled route as well."

"That's all I need. A suggested path is all I need. Even if you lied, I still can use the path you said to make several detours to the bridge, but since you know what would happen if I did... You know better to lie to me. Now that you kept your end of the deal, commander... I will honour my word." Richard stated, before he clutched the stump, and used some magic to create strong fire that effectively cauterised the commander's wound, with some cries from the latter.

He then immediately grabbed the commander's head and slammed it against the wall, sending the commander in unconsciousness. After he made sure that no-one would try to ambush him, he immediately turned to his squad.

"Squad 13 to 15, you will find a choke-point and defend it from enemy advances, so that our back is covered from enemy ambushes. Use all available resources, including deploy-able cover." Richard ordered. "Squads 10 to 12, you will advance with me and the Unison Squad, until we reach the bridge, or we find another choke-point to secure."

"As you command, Lieutenant Colonel." One of the male squad leaders responded back. "We will separate from your group and follow your orders. Squad, with me!"

A small group of rabbit-eared soldiers immediately sprinted in the opposite direction on the corridor, as they passed through the doors, as Richard and the others continued through the ship, as they made their way through the door, where they were met by advancing stormtroopers.

"Enemies!" A stormtrooper cried, as they all fired upon the team, who immediately dived for cover, as the blaster-fire whizzed dangerously close to them.

"Alright, mystic shield... Don't fail me now!" Richard exclaimed, as he activated the portable electro-mirror generator, as the blue electro-mirror barrier appeared over his arm, covering the area in front of his torso, and most of his lower half. "Cover me!"

On the order, several of the soldiers, including Tatsuki laid suppressing fire on the stormtroopers, as several of the Empire soldiers were shot dead on initial impact, while some were injured before they could hide behind cover, as they snapped back and forth, firing off return shots, even resorting to blind-firing.

The electro-mirror managed to reflect the blaster bolts away from Richard, as the blue barrier shimmered and glowed slightly, as its colour slightly shifted to a darker shade. He pushed forward, unafraid of the incoming gunfire, until he was up close with the storm-troopers.

"Out of my way, peons!" Richard roared, as he immediately slew them with strikes from his blade, as it cut through them and their armour like butter, their blood and severed parts spilling on the floor in a huge mess. He continued forward, with his electro-mirror shield at the ready, as his soldiers followed after him, taking position in various points of cover.

The UGF infiltration force slowly made its way through the ship, as most of the stormtroopers were unfortunately equipped with blaster weaponry, which seemed to be useless against Richard's electro-mirror shield, as the enemies in their path were subject to either a death by Richard's silver blade, or concentrated gun-fire from his supporting units. Although several shots did manage to come towards the rear-guard of soldiers, and managed to hit them, they suffered no serious causalities.

Eventually, they made their way to the elevator, as Rina immediately used the time to treat the soldiers, as she broke open her medical kit and treated her kin with extreme care, as their wounds were being soothed with bandages and cooling fluids to stem the worsening of the laser burns on their skin.

Richard then looked at his electro-mirror, which was now a dark-orange. Richard immediately took it as a sign that his gadget was close to overheating, as he immediately turned it off with another flick of his arm. He then slowly slumped against the wall of the elevator.

"Damn... I still haven't lost my touch with fighting mook soldiers like I did before..." Richard sighed. "I did it before in the Outside World War, and I haven't lost that 5 years of experience."

"With all due respect, you're stronger than all of us combined." Keikyo commented. "And considering how much you have been training outside of war, there is no way that your condition would have deteriorated."

"Fair enough... Fair enough..." Richard said. "Still... I don't see the commanders anywhere. Where the hell is Darth Vader? Thrawn? Even Veers? I'll fight any of their damn asses. Actually, Veers would be a laughing-stock, that he would be just a well-trained Imperial Officer. A bullet to the head kills him all the same as any stormtrooper. Thrawn? I bet he got some contingency plan which involves a hell lot of traps and back-up plans. I mean, I got to give that Chiss bastard some credit, he knows how to substitute brains for brawn in a dire situation. That's why he's Grand Admiral, you know."

"Really?" Yu asked. "So he's basically the kind of guy who would be considered a smart strategist then? Well, I like to see what he's got in store. In fact, I want to see if the Empire can give me a real challenge."

"Oh, Yu, you always think about the challenge." Richard shook his head side-to-side with mirth. "Oh, trust me, Thrawn ain't going to go down easily as any other commander. Harmless without any deadly weapons, he may be, but his plans are far more dangerous than any typical enemy we face."

Richard then noticed that the elevator has reached the designated floor, as Richard placed his blade on his back, and conjured up his light machine-gun.

"Alright, on the count of three, unload every single damn magic unit or bullet in your clip on anything that even so much looks different to our own troops." Richard stated.

The elevator doors slowly opened, as Richard audibly cocked the gun. "1... 2... 3!"

Richard then rushed out of the elevator, right into another battle…

* * *

_At the surface of Endor..._

The speeder-bikes that Gus and the others were riding on, were being escorted by several of the helicopters from the battle on Kashyyyk, as they gunned down any approaching enemy speeder-bike patrols with their vulcans, while the stragglers were picked off by gunfire from the gunners on each bike. As Marisa gunned down another of the speeder-bike pilots with a close-range burst of her magic-fueled shotgun, she noticed something coming into view.

"Gus...! Look!" Marisa cried, pointing at the front, as Gus raised his head.

Gus saw that there was a large facility, that was being guarded by a large battalion of Empire ground forces, which were being harassed by so many types of attacks that it was nearly impossible to tell who was in the fray from this distance.

"We have to help the Rebellion as much as we can!" Gus said, as he throttled the speeder-bike, accelerating it. "Come on...!"

"That voice… Gus, is that you?" a voice asked as Sectonia came up in a speeder-bike of her own.

"Wait… Do I know you..." Gus stated with the confused tone. "Ah… I remember you. You were the lady that was always by David's side, with the butterfly wings and the rapier. How's David been doing since Tokyo?"

"He's been doing really great, a lot more lively. So lively, in fact, he's going to hold a concert after all of this is over." Sectonia said. "By the way, I'm Sectionia. Not much relations to my past self."

"A concert? Interesting. I'd like to attend if I could." Gus hummed. "Where is he?"

"About to head into space with Mayumi and Leopardmon to back up the fleet." Sectonia said.

"Leopardmon? So, he really pulled it off then?" Gus asked.

"It wasn't easy, but yes, we pulled it off." Sectonia said.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised. Richard told me a little about the Royal Knights…Leopardmon is quite clever." Gus responded back.

"Rightfully so. As their main strategist, he pretty much has to be." Sectonia said. "So, what brings you all the way out here?"

"Richard determined that the Battle of Endor would be occurring at this moment. He's been watching the planet for a while using a scout drone." Gus answered back. "Right now, our own army is fighting against the Empire. For now, the Rebellion is unaware of us, but if we can help them earn victory, then along with the feat of prevent the Kashyyyk massacre, we'll be able to ally ourselves with them, to defeat the Empire."

"Your army?" Sectionia asked. "No wonder you look so different than when we met you in Tokyo. Who's the one beside you?"

"Hey Hey, I should be asking the same question!" Marisa responded back with a slightly miffed tone. "Who are you? I sure as hell don't recall meeting anyone like you."

"Ah! That's Queen Sectonia!" Sanae states, as she seemed to have stars in her eyes, having met one of her favourite characters. "And she's in a beautiful human form! I'm wondering if I'm dreaming or not, because she's so dazzling!"

"Uh… Th-thank you." Sectonia said in slight embarrassment.

"We met her back in another Tokyo." Reimu answered Marisa's question directly. "Along with a few other people. Allow me to tell you who my rude friend is. She's Marisa Kirisame, a real bother with a lot of firepower at hand, and little patience to do things."

"Yeah! The teams had lots and lots of characters from other worlds! I bet that Richard was secretly swooning over the dream team that they have-"

"Sanae! Keep your eyes front!" Meiling warned, as Sanae's brief loss of concentration led her towards a tree.

Sanae turned back, before she yelped and righted her speeder-bike, before she could make a crash accident with it. She was panting heavily, as she was slightly on the edge from the near-miss.

"Phew… Close one." Sectonia said taking out an incoming enemy with her rapiers before another one comes at them before being taken out by a blur. "Nice one, Veevee!"

"No problem!" UlforceVeedramon said before blending back to the jungle.

"UlforceVeedramon!?" Sanae exclaimed, as she internally squealed in joy.

Meiling noticed another group of speeder-bikes coming her way, as she slowly stood herself up, before she then leapt from Sanae's speeder-bike. she jumped between each and every speeder-bike with deadly precision, knocking the drivers with a palm-strike to the face, before hopping back on Sanae's speeder-bike.

"We're almost there!" Link said, as the facility and the battle involved was much closer already.

Suddenly, Gus's communicator crackled, as someone was on the channel.

"Commander Gus, we've managed to land all of our ground troops onto the planet." A soldier reported to Gus. "Where should we group up, or where should we launch a combined assault on? We have a vague map prepared from the data we have collected so far from our LZs, but we don't have knowledge of any major battles occurring."

"Do not worry, I have located the site of the main battle." Gus stated. "Place a rally beacon on the location that I will remain it. There is a facility that holds major significance to the Empire. If we destroy it, then their overall forces will be weakened significantly."

"Roger that, commander. We'll arrive to reinforce you and your battalion soon." The soldier answered back, before he cut the comms.

Soon, the group managed to reach the site of the battle, as the Empire Forces were mostly distracted by the Rebellion, although some of them managed to be aware of the arrival of the UGF forces, as well as Sectionia and UlforceVeeDramon. Knowing that they don't need the speeder-bikes anymore, they immediately disembarked from them, as they took their positions, as some of the allied helicopters appeared from under the foliage of the forest, as they immediately engaged their enemies.

"Fire! Fire!" Gus shouted, as he immediately pulled off his weapon, and fired off several bursts that managed to bring down the Empire troops advancing on them.

Sanae immediately used her personal grenade-launcher, to fire off orbs of wind magic, which exploded into a tornado with slashing winds, as they tore the enemy and their cover to pieces, allowing the others to gun them down,

They slowly advanced against the Empire fortification, until they were stopped by a group of stormtroopers, that were being supported by a AT-ST, as it fired off large bolts that forced the group to dodge for more complete cover.

"Someone has to take that thing down!" Gus exclaimed. "Link, you have the tether, do you think you can disable that walker for us?"

"I can try." Link nodded, as he immediately moved to attack the walker, as he used his shield to absorb the impact of the blaster bolts aimed at him

When he reached a close enough range, he immediately used his whip-like tether to hook onto the upper hatch of the AT-ST, as he pulled himself up onto it, before slashing the hatch open, and knocking the crew inside out cold, as the AT-ST fell to the ground, disabled.

"I think we can use these things against them." Sectonia said. "It's worth a try." She said as she climbed in. "I don't have a lot of experience piloting something like this, but I think I can make this work."

"Let me help." Fox said, as he parkoured up the side of the AT-ST, and through the top hatc. "I've piloted a Landmaster before, and many more vehicles. I knew a few guys who used walkers in their army, so I should have a good idea how to work it. You take the weapons, I'll handle controlling it.

"Got it. Thanks, Fox." Sectonia said.

"Heh. You must have met my other self." Fox stated, as he interacted with the controls to activate it again. "Tell him that he's going to have to work hard, if he's going to be better than this Mccloud."

The AT-ST soon stood itself back up, as the former crew were unceremoniously ejected from the top hatch, as their bodies laid on the ground, unresponsive from Link knocking them out beforehand. It slowly made its way towards the base, as it fired off its front guns at the Empire, who were trying to bring it down with heavy weaponry.

"You have to do better than that is you want to bring us down." Sectonia said as she started mowing them down. "We need to clear them out so we can buy the others time to bring down the generator."

"No need to say. Like I said, let me take care of moving this thing. In fact, I'm going to run them over." Fox said, as he immediately slammed the walker's throttle forward, as it rushed towards the Empire troopers, as it crashed through the group, as Sectionia fired down on them.

Gus and the others immediately advanced, as another part of their force came, as they hollered out a collective war-cry, firing into the Empire forces, as the tanks in the wave of UGF forces, were firing off magic-powered slugs that seemed to blow out the limbs of the other AT-ST, although they weren't firing upon the one controlled by Fox and Sectionia.

Eventually, Han Solo and his allies rushed into sight, as he was surprised to see that the controlled AT-ST was finishing off the Empire forces stationed in front of the base. Fox and Sectionia leapt out of the AT-ST, which deactivated themselves, as the UGF soldiers immediately gathered behind Gus, as their commander walked to greet them all.

"Well, I'm surprised." Han said with a impressed look on his face. "I didn't expect that there is another faction that is fighting against the Empire. You're not part of the Rebellion, are you?"

"No… We're not. We're the United Gensokyo Forces." Gus answered back. "I speak on behalf of the army, as its commander, Major Gus Campbell. We are seeking to take down the Empire, who had the intentions of subjugating us. Of course, we refused to bow to their whims, and thus we were pulled into this galactic war."

"You look so young…" Leia said, as he examined Gus closely. "How could someone as young as you be a commander? Unless… My apologies, if that offended you."

"No, there is nothing offensive about that statement." Gus assured Leia. "The reason why I look so young, is because I age quite slowly compared to normal people, if only slightly less."

"Are you here to destroy the shield generator for us?" Han asked. "We need to bring down that facility, it's what's protecting the Death Star."

"Is that so…!?" Gus asked back, as he pretended to be shocked, as he knew that Endor had the facility that was powering the Death Star's shield. "We will assist you with all we have, if that is the case. If that super-weapon in the space is protected by that facility, then we must disable it, so that we can launch a combined assault on it."

"We will need all the help we can get. We appreciate your assistance." Francisca said.

Crusadermon was fidgeting a little, slightly remembering her previous encounter with Gus and his comrades.

"No problems." Antonio answered back with a grin. "So I guess that you were the blue-haired ice mage from before, right? Nice to meet you again, I suppose.

"Same here. I never thought we'd meet again under these circumstances." Francisca said.

"Sorry about the mishaps that happened in Tokyo." Sachiko said.

"No… It was never your fault, Sachiko." Gus answered back. "David seemed to hold you close to his heart, with how he did everything he could to ensure that you would be safe… I'm happy that you were pulled out of danger. And you're not the only one to apologise… I'm sorry for how Richard and the others acted… For someone who is so ambivalent in his opinion, and using questionable methods, he genuinely means good when he does things."

"That much, we can tell." Sectonia said.

Crusadermon looked nervous upon hearing that name.

"Something wrong, Crusadermon?" Sachiko asked.

"Yes. My last encounter with Richard was...not very pleasant to put it mildly." Crusadermon said.

"I remember that time…" Sanae frowned. "You did something that Richard would not tolerate in front of him, Crusadermon. And you ended up facing what he would be like, if he was truly malicious. I mean, look at what he said while he did that… He literally threatened to do torture beyond what mortal bodies would be able to take."

"But, the All Science Go Corporation were brainwashing you and the other Royal Knights at the time, right? You shouldn't worry about something like that." Sachiko said.

"That may be true, but we still remember what we were doing while in that state. Such acts are not deplorable of us. We kind of agree that this Corporation must pay for attempting to sully our name." Crusadermon said with a clenched fist.

"Then work hard to prove that you weren't the heartless monster that Richard saw before." Gus told Crusadermon with a forgiving smile. "I'll do all I can to persuade Richard to see you in a better light. He trusts me more than most people, so I can sway his opinion for you, and convince him that you're not the one from before, Kishibe the betrayer… But Crusadermon, the noble."

"Thank you, Gus. Your words are much needed." Crusadermon said.

"It's what I do." Gus replied with a humble tone. "I am supposed to be a saviour like Richard, after all, but I won't have to face the same harsh choices that he had to face, and I'll give everyone a chance to help and understand each other."

Chewbacca roared, as he seemed to feel like that Gus was worth the trust, as Han listened to his pal's words for a moment, before turning to Gus.

"Chewie seems to believe you, and I know that he's not one to make wrong assumptions on someone." Han said. "So, could you take care of anyone who tries to enter the facility?"

"That can be taken care of-" Gus was about to say, as he raised his hand to gesture to his men.

However, before he could speak, there was a loud booming voice that rang across the surface of the battlefield.

"To all those who are below on the surface of Endor, I would like to introduce ourselves, as an army who will be partaking in this war." The XO of the GFS Izanagi hollered across the entirety of the battlefield through drones that broadcasted the speech across the surface of Endor. "On behalf of our commander, who is not present at the time of announcement. I, Keima Toseki, declare that we, of the United Gensokyo Forces, will ally with the Rebellion against the Empire. For those who serve the Empire, know that you will find us a formidable force indeed. Provoking us was a truly foolish mistake that you have made, as we are capable of obliterating your armies with our own. As you seek to conquer us, we will crush your ambition under your heel, and fight for the freedom and peace of this galaxy. For those of the Rebellion, do not harbor suspicion for us, as we have heard of your deeds, and we have come to aid you in your battle, as per our commander's orders."

Gus looked up, as he sighed with a smile.

"So, I guess that means that we're officially allied with the Rebellion it seems." Gus sighed with a smile. "Finally, we have someone to back us up and support us in our time of need. Wait, I need to make that order I was about to do. All units, defend this perimeter, don't let a single Empire soldier through into the base."

A collective cry of 'Yessirs!', 'Roger that!', 'Copy that!' rang from both comms and the throats of each of the soldiers, as they positioned themselves, taking the fortifications of the base for themselves, as they prepared for an assault.

"Come on, we need to take the base, don't we?" Antonio asked the others impatiently. "I mean, your friends in space must be combatting the space fleet, right! The sooner we blow this thing, the sooner we can bring down their big bad war-machine!"

"Fair enough, let's move." Gus said, as he made his way to the entrance, before he gestured Meiling to walk over to the doors, as she used her immense strength to pry the sealed doors open, and held them for the others to enter.

Gus's teammates were the first to enter, as Sectonia and her friends were next to enter, with the Rebellion group the last to enter, as Han looked cautiously at the formation made by the UGF soldiers, as their tanks served as mobile cover for them. When he saw another wave of Empire troops coming, he immediately moved into the base, as Meiling let the doors shut, before joining the groups.

* * *

_In the Executor…_

"3…!" Richard cried, as he immediately rushed in, before letting out a ear-shattering war-cry and firing off wildly in the direction of the stormtroopers in front of him.

The entire area before him, was a large round circular area, with metallic platforms all around the area, from bottom to top. The round circular platform that was the massive center of the area, seemed to eerily resemble a arena platform. Stormtroopers of various classes were strewn around the area, as they were either suppressed or killed by Richard's wild barrage of gunfire, although they were all dazed due to Richard's war-cry knocking them off-guard, as they struggled to get themselves back together to properly fight back.

Just as soon as they prepared to return fire, the group that was with Richard added their own weapons to the massive and unstoppable barrage of attacks, as rockets tore the cover to pieces, and rapid fire tore those who were exposed into so many holes, like swiss cheese.

As soon as all the enemies were eliminated by the reckless maneuver that Richard pulled, the black-haired commander immediately wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Hoo… That was risky…" Richard sighed. "Good thing I'm good at making intimidating moves like these, thanks to certain 'experiences'..."

Richard then gestured for the squad to move up, as they spread themselves out, with the Unison Squad making their way to the circular platform with him.

"Is that all…?" Yu asked. "I find this too easy… Way too easy, even for a battle-maniac like me...

"Something doesn't seem right… Why would the commander say the 'least-patrolled'?" Keikyo assumed. "Just because there are less enemies here, doesn't mean that the attention we could draw would be less… And if they figure out we're the group with the commander in it…"

"Then we need to move double-time." Richard spoke with a worried tone. "Find the elevator to the bridge, or any indication that would bring us closer to the location!"

Every soldiers split up, as they immediately searched every single place in the maintenance floor. Eventually, one of the soldiers managed to find the elevator, which was located on the opposite end of the floor, where they came in from, which was reasonably faraway from it.

"Commander, I managed to find it-!" One of the bunny-eared squadmates reported back.

Suddenly, a shape immediately appeared behind him, as Rina managed to notice it, even in the slightly dark shadows that covered where the elevator was.

"Behind you! Look out behind you!" Rina screamed her warning hastily to the squadmate.

The male squadmate tilted his head in confusion, before he turned around quickly, as he came face-to-face with a steel-grey skinned reptilian biped with a thick rim of bone around its head, clawed limbs, and large and long sickles in its hands.

"Hah!?" The squadmate blurted out, as he pulled up his rifle to shoot the enemy that tried to backstab him.

However, before he could even move it a single inch, the beast-like being immediately stuck its sickle right through the chest of the squadmate, piercing and cleaving his heart with the blade itself. Rina gasped in horror, as the squadmate gurgled and squirmed, as he tried futilely to stay alive and fight off the attacker, only to die shortly after, the light leaving his eyes, and his arms falling slack, the assault rifle falling out of his weapon.

The attacker immediately withdrew his sickle, as the dead body fell to the ground, with a pool of blood.

"Damn them… They brought the noghri here…!?" Richard exclaimed. "These beings are not to be underestimated! Keep yourself back-to-back! Do not let even the shadows out of your sight! Every place is a point of assault for them! Do not engage them in physical combat, unless you are confident that you can fight off something as fast and deadly as them!"

Richard then pulled his blade out, as the soldiers under his command obeyed his orders without question, as they paired up and put themselves back-to-back, keeping an eye on every corner of the floor in their sight.

The noghri, having smelt that Richard was quite powerful from his natural power, immediately classified Richard as the biggest threat, as it rushed at Richard with both of its sickle blades gleaming. Richard countered the charge with one of his own, as he used the flat end of the blade to catch both of the hooked edges of the sickle blades against it, as both of them struggled against each other, with neither of them giving way to the other.

Taking advantage of the dead-lock, Richard arched his head back, and performed a quick and precise head-butt which slammed into the noghri's head, dazing the creature slightly. He quickly used that opportunity to slam a forward-kick that disengaged the head-lock, and staggered the noghri, which is still trying to recover from the daze.

He then slid towards the noghri, and stabbed it right through the chest, as the creature let out a cry of pain and anguish, before it fell to its knees, as Richard withdrew his blade. The noghri then turned to Richard, as it spoke in its native language with a respectful and defeated tone, as its wound leaked out blood of a strange colour.

"Don't worry… I promise that your death will be swift and quick." Richard stated in response. "I know better to prolong the death of a proper warrior. You may die… But you will be remembered by at least me. A small honour, but still a honour that you can salvage… farewell, warrior."

He then beheaded the noghri with a single strike through the neck, as body and head fell in opposite directions. After the assassin was dispatched, Richard walked over to the body of the deceased squadmate, as he bowed his head in silence.

"Your death will not be in vain. Many will remember your death as progress for a noble cause that is for the sake of the people." Richard chanted like a prayer. "May your soul find rest in Higan, and may the Yama bless you in reincarnation."

He then picked up the body, as he lowered it into a sukima, which took the recently dead soldier somewhere that only Richard knows.

After the body was removed, Richard immediately heard thrusters from above, as he immediately looked up, as he saw three figures, clad in black futuristic full-body armour that resembled that of the Iron Man Suits, with a blue horizontal visor where the eyes would be, and metallic limbs that had various weapons and gadgets stored inside for use. Many noghri also descended, as they were more or less the same as the noghri that Richard just fought, save for the difference in their physical appearance, like their height and skin hue.

"So you are the leader of the rats that have been scurrying across the personal flagship of the Empire, the Executor, hm?" One of the suits spoke in a arrogant and condescending voice.

"I am Lieutenant Colonel Richard Liu, of the United Gensokyo Forces." Richard spoke back with a biting tone. "You have ignored our warnings in dissuading you from trying to subjugate us, and thus has enacted our full wrath in retaliation. Nothing more is left to be said, because I have no interest in negotiating with bloodthirsty warmongers who forced our hand."

"Pah. What can a small force like yours do?" Another of the suits spoke in a heavy tone. "You are nothing compared to the grand Empire that we serve. We will wipe out your pathetic fleet, and scatter you across the outer rims."

"I would be careful if I were you, Fleet Admiral Piett and General Veers." The third suit-clad figure answered back with a strangely soothing and calm voice. "This is the very person who has thwarted us several times in many different scenarios. And this is merely one scenario that we haven't accounted for."

'_So the third must be Grand Admiral Thrawn… If he speaks of a General and Fleet Admiral so lightly, like children. The prodigal commander, meets the tactical savant._' Richard thought in his head, as he smirked slightly. '_Me against Thrawn… I wonder how this battle will turn out…_'

"See, even now, he is considering other plans." Thrawn told Veers and Piett, who were the respective speakers of the former two statements. "I can see that his eyes gleam with a modicum of cleverness and cunning in them. It is inherited, but potent nonetheless."

"You seem to understand at least that much of me." Richard answered back, as he slightly lowered the weapon, to loosen the guard of his enemies in a gesture of mock-vulnerability. "What is your name? I must at least know the name of my opponent, so that I can respectfully accept your challenge."

"My full name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo." Thrawn introduced himself. "But for even someone as gifted in the mind as you, it would be difficult to remember and pronounce the name reliable. So I go by a shorter name… Thrawn. Grand Admiral of the Empire."

"Very well, Thrawn…" Richard responded back, as his soldiers readied themselves to fight against the noghri, and the suit-clad commanders of the Empire. "Tell me… Are these beings, these efficient killing-machines, of your allegiance? They are certainly effective against one of my men, who was killed without enough time to even raise his gun at his attacker."

"You must have had the pleasure of meeting the noghri." Thrawn explained with a amused tone. "They are indeed extremely efficient killing machines. Their exceptional stealth and hand-to-hand combat ability makes them lethal in the shadows, and still deadly out of them. And you have managed to slay one by beheading them. To do such a thing… You either won a duel against it, and mercy-killed it in honour, or you outright did the killing blow amidst the fight."

"Neither." Richard answered back. "Your noghri, as you call it, went for me, as the greatest threat. I merely matched it back with all of my might. It seemed to have quite durable natural armour around its body, but I still bypassed it with certain means."

"And do those certain means involve that blade that you are wielding?" Thrawn questioned back.

"Hm… You're interested in this blade, Thrawn? I assure you, it is no simple refined blade. To unlock its secrets, you would either have to learn things beyond the understanding of even scientific geniuses." Richard answered back, before he then wielded it in his hands. "Or you can witness its effect first-hand. I warn you, I don't plan on holding a single thing back."

"Interesting… Interesting indeed." Thrawn answered back. "You have forced me into a situation where the only reliable way that I can obtain data from you, is to witness a tried-and-true battle with you involved. My noghri should be sufficient for that task, and Veers and Piett will serve as further experimenting."

"Don't forget that you work for the Empire, Thrawn. Should you show even a shred of dissent, then I will have you executed for high treason on the Empire." Piett threatened the Chiss male.

"There is no need to worry. I will pledge all I can to the Empire." Thrawn answered back, before he then jetted up to a higher point, just out of reach of the soldiers. "I will look forward to see how you will survive this, Richard."

Richard took Thrawn's words as a challenge towards him, as he smiled back, while Veers and Piett took position. They aimed their arms at the soldiers, with large blaster cannons appearing in place of their hands, and the noghri immediately advanced on the soldiers, rushing at them with sickles at the ready.

The bunny-eared soldiers immediately decided that using guns against the noghri would be a wasted effort, as they pulled out long and refined katanas, as they teamed up against a noghri two-to-one, as their coordinated teamwork with each other ensured that the noghri would have a hard time trying to get past them. Their two blades marched up with the noghri's twin scythes, as they clashed and struck from different sides.

When the noghri tried to break free of the encirclement enacted by the soldiers, by having the remaining unengaged noghri try to assault the occupied soldiers from behind, they were met by both Tatsuki using a large nodachi that had a frosty aura around the blade, and Yu using his large war-hammer, joining the fray.

"You will not harm our men!" Tatsuki declared with a courageous tone, as he parried each and every strike from one of the noghri, before slashing across the torso, as the noghri was frozen in place, as both his insides and exterior was being frozen. With a single kick, he broke the noghri in pieces, as he blocked the blow from behind, from the next noghri to fight him, before swivelling around to face his new opponent.

Yu was using his war-hammer to launch the noghri, swinging it around like a baseball bat, stomping across each and every corner with astonishing speed for a bulky and heavy person like himself, knocking any noghri that tried to interfere with the soldiers' fights. The noghri was slowly beaten up by being flung across the room over and over again, as their body slowly succumbed to the accumulating wounds from Yu's brutal strikes, as they merely fell unconscious and didn't get up at all.

Richard noticed that Rina and Keikyo were immediately taking cover, as Keikyo pulled out a strange device, as he was doing something to it. Before he could ask them, he managed to dodge out of the way of a blaster-bolt that was aimed at him from Piett, as the blaster cannon barrel was smoking, and the blaster bolt blew a large deep hole in the spot where it struck the metal of the platform.

"Tch… Using heavy weaponry? And in a two-against-one fight…?" Richard clicked his tongue with annoyance. "Looks like I have to use the big guns."

He then immediately slammed his hand down, as he conjured up a transparent blue sphere-like barrier that seemed to absorb the impact of the blaster cannon bolts. While he was protected, he immediately took the moment to summon up twin hand-cannons, with their large muzzle and large clip, which pulsated with a brown colour.

"Bring it on." Richard taunted, doing a 'come-on' gesture, as the barrier around him disappeared.

He immediately dodged and weaved out of the blaster cannon fire, as the rate of fire on those weapons were quite slow, allowing him enough time to dodge away from the fire from both of them. Veers, having had enough of his shots being dodged, immediately prepared his shoulder missile pods, as they locked onto Richard's heat signature, and fired off the heat-tracking missiles that honed towards Richard.

Richard managed to quickly notice the homing missiles coming his way, as he kicked off the ground, and somersaulted into the air, gaining some quick distance from the missile. He then landed on one of the long platform that spanned the perimeter of the large room, as he sprinted around the room, fast enough to slowly gain distance from the missile, although he knew that if he continued, he would eventually exhaust himself.

He then quickly thought of an idea to counter the homing properties of the missile, as he looked up to Thrawn, who was observing the fights between the UGF squad and his noghri soldiers, as they were both locked in a stalemate, as casualties piled on both sides, with several of the bunny-eared soldiers dead on the ground from blood loss or a fatal blow, while the noghri casualties consisted of those knocked out by Yu's blows, or those killed by the efforts of the soldiers.

Richard then lobbed a long-range fireball, which was just warm enough to be confused as a human heat-signature, aimed at Thrawn. The missiles, as Richard expected, immediately stopped honing on Richard, and followed the fireball, as Thrawn barely noticed the fire-ball coming his way, as he managed to dodge out of the way, only to end up colliding with the missiles which exploded against the suit.

"Should have made them better." Richard muttered smugly under his voice, as the explosion subsided, to show that Thrawn's suit has taken slight damage from the missile barrage.

"Well played." Thrawn admitted with an impressed tone. "How you managed to create a projectile with the same heat-signature than that of yourself, I will not ask you. But how you managed to use that to counter the lazy handiwork of the homing capabilities of Empire-built heat-seeker missiles... I see that there is more to you than meets the eye."

"Oh, Thrawn, there is much more for you to know about me." Richard answered back. "For example, I don't play nice all the time."

He then jumped into a sukima, as he reappeared right behind a shocked Veers, as he did a jump-kick that knocked Veers forward, before he then fired his own twin handguns at Veers's back, as it blew holes right through the armour, exposing power-wires and metallic components inside of it.

"Uuurggh!" Veers cried, as he staggered even further forward, thanks to the sheer power of the hand-cannon bullets slamming through his armour.

Piett immediately supported his ally, by changing his hands from blaster cannons, into large energy rods. He then crossed the rods over each other, as the energy rods glew with red energy, as the intersection built up a massive charge, which then fired off a large beam of same-coloured energy right at Richard.

Richard immediately reacted by swiping his arm to activate the electro-mirror, as he used the barrier to protect him from the laser, as the beam was redirected back. Richard was being pushed back slowly by the force of the beam, as the electro-mirror strained against the torture it was facing, as the electro-mirror surface turned from a calm blue into a raging red. He then immediately straightened his posture, and held his ground with heavy feet. The beam was being redirected at an angle, as Richard grit his teeth and slowly guided the beam slowly towards Piett, as the people in the way immediately dodged out of the path of the beam.

Piett didn't try anything, as he was maintaining the beam in the hopes of annihilating Richard. However, as Richard slowly moved the beam towards him, he was slowly become more and more panicked, as he increased the output of the energy, and thus the size of the beam. With the added power,

Richard's electro-mirror shield began to flicker, as it was flashing rapidly in strain. Even with the device approaching its limits, Richard refused to dispel the shield, as he made a final push to redirect the beam back at Piett.

Veers tried to stop Richard, as he raised his blaster cannons to try and hit Richard in the back to force him to drop the shield. However, before he could get a proper aim, another shot slammed into the back of his suit, as it caused enough damage to temporarily render it immobile. The shot came from Rina, who was holding a modified sniper-rifle in her hands, as she managed to hit the critical spot.

Without any interruptions, Richard made the final adjustment, as the beam was reflected right back at Piett, as the beam burnt through the suit, as Piett screamed out in a high and guttural voice, like a live pig being roasted in fire, as his unprotected body was swiftly annihilated by the beam.

Richard immediately fell onto his knees, as his electro-mirror projector automatically dispelled the electro-mirror shield, as it was smoking profusely, having sustained severe damage from exceeding its limits before. Thrawn was left speechless at how even the suit's strongest weapon, the annihilation plasma beam, was reflected by a mere gadget from Richard, and also awed at how Richard managed to successfully use the very beam Piett created to bring about the demise of the arrogant Empire officer.

Veers's suit immediately tried to reboot itself, as the suit stood itself back up.

"Admiral Piett… You'll pay for this…!" Veers cried in fury, as he charged at Richard, as his hands changed from blaster cannons into large durasteel blades which had several energy cells in it, that coated the blade with electricity.

Richard immediately reacted to the attack, as he leapt just above Veers's charge, as the blades hit empty air, before he landed back on the ground, having recovered from exhaustion in fending the previous attack. When Veers turned back for another attack, Richard immediately pulled out his blade, and slowly shifted it into an iai stance.

"One down… One more to die…" Richard muttered like a chant, as he slowly concentrated on his surroundings.

"DIE!" Veers yelled, as he immediately charged back down at Richard, as his twin mounted blades were raised to cut Richard to pieces. When he reached Richard, he swung his blades down to lacerate Richard with his weapons, only to miss again.

Richard immediately dodged to the side, before cleaving the blade right through one of Veer's armoured legs, as the blade slashed through the leg with some effort. Veers screamed, as the loss of a leg caused his balance to become greatly skewed, as he flew around without much control, spinning around the room in several directions, before he then flew straight at Richard.

"_Anata wa shigo no sekai de heiwa o miidasu koto ga dekimasu ka._" Richard spoke in fluent Japanese, as he immediately slashed at the falling Veers with a inhuman speed, dicing up the Imperial General before him into many bloody pieces, as the broken suit pieces fell to the ground, completely worthless. (May you find peace in the after-life.)

He then flicked the blood off his blade, before he then looked up to Thrawn. "Your General and Fleet Admiral are dead, Thrawn." Richard spoke. "What shall you do now? Once the noghri have been slain, you will be next."

"Maybe so, but you will not have enough time to choose between your men, and me." Thrawn pridefully responded back. "I will retreat and live another day to serve the Empire, unless you would chase me. But you wouldn't let your men die, would you?"

"I respect their deaths, Thrawn." Richard answered back. "That is different from being unwilling to sacrifice my own men. And you are wrong on both counts, Thrawn… One is that the noghri are only finite, and my subordinates will have taken care of them. And two…"

Thrawn suddenly looked around, as he seemed to find Richard's words to be a warning, looking at the defeated noghri, as the wounded yet alive soldiers were being tended by Rina with some advanced first-aid, and Yu and Tatsuki were still fighting off the remaining noghri in their stead. That left Keikyo, who was holding a device in his hands, as he was manipulating it himself.

Before Thrawn could think of what was going to happen, he suddenly felt something latch to the back of his suit, as a massive surge of electric power shocked him and disrupt his suit's function. He plummeted towards the ground, before bouncing off the ground several times and landing prone in front of Richard's feet.

"...As clever as you seem, you have underestimated me once, and that one time is enough for me to capture you." Richard answered back. "Your last defence defeated, and you have been captured by the enemy. What is your response, Thrawn?"

"...For once in my life, I have fought against someone that I should have not." Thrawn admitted, as he manually unlocked the suit, as he stepped out of it, slightly shaken from the fall, as the blue-skinned Chiss raised his hands in surrender. "...I admit defeat to you, Commander Richard. None have managed to beat me without a convoluted plan, and you being the first leaves me with a… unsatisfying thought in my mind."

"Are you sure that you would easily admit defeat?" Richard asked back with a raised eyebrow. "No hidden contingencies, or any traps to spring against us?"

"I underestimated you a little, when I had so little to base my work on." Thrawn explained. "A few battles was not enough to tell me about what kind of commander you would be, and so, I used the noghri, as a counter for powerful enemies, as their own combat prowess seemed to be a good fit against your men. How little I knew about you, it seems. Only in this great battle, that you utilised the full power of your army against the Empire. If I couldn't be able to stand against you, then not a single Imperial Commander could hope to match you in a upfront battle for supremacy."

"Hm. I see." Richard answered back, as he sheathed his weapon. "You are merely working with the Empire, because you consider them the most suitable faction in your view, is that correct?"

"Indeed." Thrawn answered back. "I believe that only the Empire has the power to create a government across the stars, where they are the dominant voice of their own governments, strong enough to quarrel the squabble between species, and yet distant enough to not create one of their own."

"So you believe that in comparison to the Rebellion, who championed equal rights and a voice to all of the species, is less fit than the Empire, who would use their power to silence any dissident voices and opinions." Richard answered back, as he placed a hand on his chin with a grim frown. "What is so wrong about equality between species, Grand Admiral Thrawn? Is it not fair that every species are given the right to be respected as much as a person as anyone in the Empire?"

"That kind of idealism, although it may be noble and rewarding in the short-term, it will eventually drive any form of government into division, inefficiency, and last of all, civil war. Because of how the various philosophies and viewpoints of each and every species that have been brought into the Empire, the government would be unstable, with how ethical conflicts occur every so often, because each species claim their way to the 'right' one." Thrawn answered back. "I envision the perfect government to be militarised and orderly, so that it can efficiently combat any threats that may try to topple it from outside and within. I do not necessarily agree with discrimination of species, but that doesn't mean that they should be allowed to have enough rights to influence the culture, society and politics of the faction they are involved with."

Nobody spoke, before Richard then approached Thrawn, as the Chiss didn't react at all at Richard's approach, as if he wasn't afraid of what would happen next.

"Then let me tell you something…" Richard answered back. "Do you not believe that the UGF are a more fitting society to dedicate your talents to, if that is the kind of government that you would envision?"

Only after hearing those words, did Thrawn's expression show a hint of shock, which he hid quite well, although Richard managed to read it out for the brief moment it showed in his eyes.

"Are you stating that you would wish for me to serve you?" Thrawn asked back.

"I would have merely detained you, had you not spoken." Richard responded back with a honest tone, without any trace of assumed deceit in his voice. "After we had defeated the Empire, I would have merely released you. What you do after that, is not of my concern. You may try to resurrect the Empire, although we would know of such an attempt, and we would crush it once again, or you could decide to dedicate your talents in preparing for future threats. But since I have heard what you had to say, I believe that your talents are best left with us, since you are a military tactician first, any other strategic profession second."

"You make an assumption regarding what little you learned from my words, if they are even true." Thrawn replied back with a frown on his lips. "A good assumption, as I would not be able to serve a Empire that has been destroyed, but an assumption nonetheless. But I have seen that you are much more worthy of my services than the second Emperor himself. So tell me, what kind of government does your army serve under?"

"The government that we serve, would be considered a paradox in your terms." Richard answered back. "There are two major races in Gensokyo, our homeland. Humans, like me and Tatsuki, and youkai, which are beasts of the folklore, given humanoid form and sentience. Both species exist in relative peace with each other, such that only the natural cycle of youkai consuming and terrorising humans for their sustenance, and humans slaying youkai for their vices and fears. The youkai are split among many different tribes, as you may have noticed from the various members of my personal squad. But that is all I need to say about the two native races of the homeland. The important thing is that both races co-exist with each other, as if they were one race. Maybe the culture and society, being meshed as one from the collective ideas of each of the races, would be considered to be something you might admire, or something you may detest. I believe it to be the former, considering that the society and culture is many melded into one over decades of conforming and merging beliefs into a single universal belief."

Thrawn seemed to be slightly interested in how Richard portrayed his land, along with its cultural and societal features. "You have my ear. Continue on." He simply stated.

"Now, regarding the military… I would like to say that the army is actually formed by men from each and every race in Gensokyo." Richard answered back. "From the simple privates, to the commanding officers, each and every race has their right to ascend the ranks and prove themselves as worthy leaders. You may consider that this kind of army would be considered to be a recipe for anarchy, but recall what I said about Gensokyo's society, that all races followed a singular belief with slight variations that conform to their needs and traditions, and there is someone in this army, who has enough power, both figurative and literal, who stands as the Supreme General of the Army."

"And who, which I would assume would be the true commander of the army, is that person?" Thrawn asked back.

"Yukari Yakumo, Creator-Sage of Gensokyo." Richard answered back. "A woman who is as ageless as time itself, with knowledge that spans those years. She is considered to be something far beyond a religious god, as her power is something that very few dare to imagine, and her wits are sharp enough to twist or topple entire governments with but a few words. She is the one who holds the reins to this army, as she is the one who employs the commanders, and regulates the army with a eternally watchful eye. For a 'dominant voice', there is not a single person that could ever exist or be imagined, that is far more worthy of that title than her. She doesn't need a government to control the whims of the society, for her words and cunning hold far more weight than the entire universe that Gensokyo resides in. That is the true power of the government that we serve."

Thrawn seemed to show genuine respect for what Richard spoke of, as he pondered about how a single woman, 'Yukari Yakumo', could possibly maintain the government by herself, having doubts that Richard could be lying to gain his services, and yet, considering Richard's performance… She could be as strong as Richard states her to be.

"Then why are you the commander of this army?" Thrawn asked. "If 'Yukari' is the true commander of the army, why is it not she who is leading the troops?"

"Because she is the kind of general that you never see in the front-lines, unless she is absolutely sure that she needs to destroy you herself. And thus various commanders have been placed up to lead the army in her stead. And as her direct disciple, I am technically the 'true' commander of this army in her stead." Richard stated.. "And the reason that she is not leading, is because of circumstances that only I and a very few know."

Richard then placed a hand on Thrawn's shoulder, before giving off a formal smile.

"I feel like that someone like you would find a long-lasting place as part of the UGF army." Richard told Thrawn, with a hint of flattery in it. "After all, you did manage to make a plan that would have ended the life of any ordinary commander, and I respect that kind of planning in my ranks, and since you have been so nice to at least humour me, I believe that you might possibly find interest in working with us, even if you won't say it out to us in an obvious manner. So then… Thrawn… Think about it, you will be fighting with someone who would best use your talents. Instead of a prison by either us or the Rebellion, you will given a position."

Thrawn became silent for a moment, before a rare smile crept up his lips.

"Very well, your argument hold enough proof and weight for me to accept them as solid points in your offer to me." Thrawn stated. "Very well, I shall relinquish my position as Grand Admiral. Since the Empire will be defeated, they will not know of my desertion, as I will be assumed dead when Veers and Piett are confirmed dead instead. I look forward to serving you, Commander."

Thrawn placed a hand out. "I believe that this is the time for using one of the human gestures that I am familiar, a handshake to solidify our goodwill and partnership with each other?"

Richard immediately took the hand, as he took care to gently clasp the Chiss's hand, which felt quite strangely coarse in his hands, as he shook it gently with a smile.

"It is an honour to have managed to gain someone of talent like you, Thrawn." Richard answered back. "I will make sure that you will be treated properly, until this war ends. Squads 16-18, escort our new friend, and ensure that he is not harmed. It would be a shame to lose someone that I have worked hard to convince. Call for an hot extraction, and make sure to get out in one piece, got that?"

"Roger." One of the squad-leaders said, as they surrounded Thrawn, covering him from every direction. "Follow us, sir. We will make sure that you will be unharmed. I do believe that some of the people here will find you a welcome addition as a new superior."

"Interesting. So they harbor no ill-intent towards me, even after my plans have killed a few of them." Thrawn commented. "You hold me in such high regard, Commander Richard, so it seems?"

"Well, let's just say that you and I share the same knack of making plans that make the enemies guess and spectacularly come out with exceptional results." Richard answered back with a shrug.

Thrawn smirked, as he then turned back, as the escort squads immediately went down the elevator, with Thrawn in their protection. Richard immediately made for the elevator, with the remaining troops in his tow.

* * *

_On the surface of Endor…_

All of the teams immediately descend into the bowels of the base, as they fought their way through the soldiers.

Meiling immediately blasted through each and every door that was shut to try and stop them, with several strong blows, and those on the other side were met with a hail of bullets and projectiles from the other members.

Eventually, they made their way to where the generators were, although they were protected by a large energy barrier, that was being held by four barrier generators, that were protected from external attacks.

Suddenly, there were a loud explosion, which could be heard from even under the base.

"What the heck was that?" Teepo asked.

"Sounds like the Empire is getting a bit desperate." Scott said.

"Our men must be fighting with all they got…" Gus stated. "They wouldn't let the enemy budge a single inch back, and they'll do everything in their power to achieve that. But a defensive battle is a uphill battle… Casualties will inevitably pile up the longer we hold this point."

"All the more reason for us to hurry. If we can take the generator down, we can send our strike teams in." Sectonia said.

"Leave it to me!" Marisa stated, as she immediately pulled out the Hakkero, and aimed it towards the barrier. Gus seemed to pale slightly at what Marisa was going to do, as he immediately stomped over and put the Hakkero down.

"No! If you try to use the Master Spark in here, you'll bring down the entire base around us!" Gus harshly scolded his teammate, as Marisa pouted slightly with annoyance, but complied and put the Hakkero back.

"Fine. Then what do we do? It's obvious that the stuff on the other side is the target." Marisa answered back.

"This reminds of how Lego Star Wars did this part…" Sanae commented. "Maybe we should be able to find four switches to power down each of the barrier generators?"

"Sounds like a good idea. Leave that part to us." Sachiko said, dispatching with Maki, Sero, and Omnimon, in one of the corridors from the main control room.

"We'll take the other way." Antonio stated , as Fox, Link and Marisa took the other way.

Both teams slowly made their way towards the respective rooms, as they were met by stormtroopers, who were alerted to their presence.

"M-Monster!" One of the stormtroopers on Sachiko's side screamed, having seen the large Omnimon.

"Now that's just cruel." Omnimon commented.

The stormtroopers immediately focused their fire on Omnimon, as they truly believed that he was a monster that would slaughter everyone in this base as some of them let out panicked cries, though they're about to find out that it's more believable than they think.

"Nice shots. Now it's my turn. Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon shouted firing a blast of ice at the stormtroopers, as it froze them all completely. Maki soon made his way to the switch and deactivated it, as one of the barrier generators turned itself off.

Meanwhile on Antonio's side of the base, Marisa immediately pulled out some potions from her waist, as she threw them at the stormtrooper group, as it dispatched most of them in a explosive cloud of green energy.

"This black-and-white witch knows how to blow crap up like a boss!" Marisa taunted, as she lobbed more of her alchemical bombs at everywhere the Empire soldiers were.

Fox noticed that there were a few stormtroopers who were guarding one of the barrier generator switches, hiding behind a thick pane of glass, unaware of Marisa's destruction.

"Well now, that's not exactly good conduct in a base. That ignorance should be punished." Fox answered back, before he then pulled out a large laser-cutter, before he then slowly carved a sizeable hole through the window, finally attracting the attention of the stormtroopers on the other side, although the moment the excised part of the glass hit the ground, Fox already had his hands on his blaster, as he shot them down with precise shots to the head.

As soon as the coast was clear, Fox immediately hopped through the window, and deactivated the switch, as another of the barrier generators in the main control room slowly powered down.

Both teams looked around, as they looked for any more of the switches that are needed to deactivate each of the barrier generators, and they managed to find another switch in each of their rooms, which they turned off at the same time, causing all of the barrier generators to turn itself off, as the way to the main generators is clear.

"Thanks, kiddos." Han said, as he immediately moved in with Chewbacca, as they planted the charges on the generators. "I suggest we get running. These charges are set to blow after a set period of time."

"Got it." Gus said, before activating his comms to the ground forces of the UGF army. "All units, retreat from the surface of Endor, our mission is complete. I repeat, All units, retreat from the surface of Endor, our mission is complete."

He then shut off the comms, just as soon as both of the teams returned back to where everyone was, as they immediately fled out of the base, as they ducked behind a faraway patch of forest. From safety, they watched as the entire base was blown up into air, as the radar dish that supported the Death Star's shield lost all of its power, and immediately broke down into pieces.

Gus high-fived everyone on his team, before pumping his fists up in triumph, while the other heroes cheered and whooped at their victory.

"Looks like only the Death Star is left." Gus said.

At that moment, three animal-like mechs came out and are making their way to space.

"The Animechs? I made it clear that I didn't want them out! What is going on?!" Miles asked in disbelief.

"Oh dear… It looks like someone snuck out the key to the Animech garage. I wonder who that could be?" Scott asked, clearly faking his concern.

"Jet, that little weasel… He is so in for it when this is over." Miles growled.

"Dish it out then. I'm right here." Jet said.

"Jet? Wait… If you're here, then… Who are in the cockpits?!" Miles asked.

"Wait, what's going on!?" Gus asked.

"Hold on… Head count…" Miles muttered as everyone was present except… "David, Mayumi, and Leopardmon? David and Mayumi, I can understand, but Leopardmon of all people?"

"You mean that David went to the Death Star with only a few of his teammates!?" Gus exclaimed, before he then sighed. "Nothing I can do there. I will have to tell Richard that I'll be heading to the Death Star as well, if that's the case."

"Gus, wait. It's not what you think!" Sectonia shouted hastily.

"What do you mean?" Gus questioned Sectionia. "I can't just let him go alone. I know that someone like him wouldn't have much of a problem, but I rather not take the risk that he can't..!"

"Calm down, Gus." Sanae told Gus. "I'm sure that Sectionia can explain everything for us. Or at the others as well."

"You see… David isn't really heading for the Death Star. The other leaders are. David is just going to back up the fleet." Sectonia responded back with a calm tone.

"Ah… But why?" Gus asked.

"He… He wants to defend General Grievous." Sectonia said.

"Grievous!?" Gus squawked with surprise.

"Are you serious? Why didn't he say anything?!" Miles said.

"If he did, you would've tried to stop him." Sectonia said. "Grievous may have talked down on us a lot, but he's still an important part of the Rebel Forces. He couldn't leave him to die, because doing so would be the same thing as indirectly killing him himself."

"I see…" Gus stated, having calmed down a little. "General Grievous… Since the Separatists don't exist anymore… It would only be fair that if he was alive until then, he would throw his lot in with the Rebellion. He may be slightly ruthless, but he would be a good asset for the Rebel Forces."

"Well, that's one more surprising thing I find about this place…" Sanae remarked. "...General Grievous is actually alive and working with the Rebellion."

Soon, one of the UGF's dropships descended down near them, as the back hatch of the dropship showed that the very same elite was on it, showing that it was the same dropship that Gus's team disembarked from.

"Come on, commander! You're the last to go!" The elite shouted back.

"I guess that this is where we part ways, Sectionia." Gus stated, as he and his team made their way onto the dropship. "Thanks for allowing us to help. We're glad to help stop the Empire, even if the effort is little compared to the greater scope of things."

"We appreciate it nonetheless. I hope we see you again soon." Sectonia said.

"You sure you don't need a ride back?" Reimu asked with a caring tone. "We could just tell the pilot to take you to your ship, if you want."

"Actually, that would be nice. We do have a concert to set up, after all." Kaede said.

"She's right. We should at least go there to gather our equipment and get it ready." Craniamon said.

"In other words, we'll take you up on your offer." Sectonia said.

"Damn it… Today turned out to be one hell of a day…" Miles groaned.

"Then hop on! We got enough space for you guys!" Sanae smiled, before turning to the soldiers. "Make some room, we got some more passengers!"

The soldiers compiled and moved aside to allow the other team members to come aboard, before the dropship doors closed up, as the dropship made its way to the heroes' ship.

* * *

_In the Executor…_

Richard immediately makes it to the top, where they saw that Reisen and the squads under her command were already engaged with enemies down the corridors.

"I guess we're led to the same place, huh…" Richard answered back, before he then loaded his weapon. "I guess we're going to pull a pincer attack on the Empire troops. Move on, and wipe them all out!"

The group advanced, as they shot down the enemies that was hiding behind cover against Reisen's forces, as they managed to get rid of the enemies without much problems.

Richard and Reisen soon reunited with each other, as they faced each other.

"It seems that we managed to get back together." Richard commented. "Tell me, were there any problems on your side?"

"We encountered several formidable enemies, they wielded scythes that cut through the soldier's armour quite easily, and they were both resilient and agile." Reisen reported back. "Did you face anything similar?"

"Oh, the noghri." Richard answered back. "Yeah, we also had the pleasure of facing down the commanders of the fleet, who tried to fight back with mobile armour. They met a grisly fate, as expected by anyone who is in the way of our mission. Well, except one, who actually would do better with us than with the Empire. How many died?"

"About 10% of the members in all squads I gathered." Reisen answered back. "I say that you suffered approximately the same in terms of men."

"Aye…" Richard answered back with a solemn frown. "I made sure that their bodies are returned back into the GFS Izanagi, so they can be preserved and buried when we return back to Gensokyo at last."

The group advanced towards the bridge together, as they soon grouped up behind the large doors leading to the bridge.

"On the count of 3, breach?" Richard asked Reisen.

Reisen nodded silently, as Richard immediately placed his hand up. He slowly counted up to 2, before he then suddenly stopped.

"Wait… I feel something strange…" Richard said. "My magic senses are lighting up quite violently, as if someone's coming towards the bridge. Let me check."

Richard closed his eyes, as he sensed his surroundings, slowly expanding the range, until he managed to find the signature that he sensed.

"I found it… There are actually a group of lifeforms, with varying levels of magic in them." Richard answered back. "They seem to be heading in the same direction, towards the…"

Richard's eyes snapped open, as he seemed to be frightened. "Everybody, rebreathers on, and BRACE!" He shouted loudly.

Everyone followed his orders, as they slapped their rebreathers onto their mouth and noses, before they found a place to brace themselves, before the ship was rocked violently, as everyone was flung across the room.

Several of the soldiers were pinned under Yu's large frame, and there were people on top of each other, as everyone was thrown all over the corridor.

Richard groaned, as he was knocked upside-down, before he righted himself back up.

"What the hell?" Richard stated, as he slowly approached the doors. "I don't recall sending any boarding pods toward the bridge. I didn't even know where the bridge was until now. So who was it?"

Richard slowly pried the broken doors to the bridge open, as he entered, where he saw that there was a craft that crashed right though the window, as it managed to miraculously plug the hole it made in the shattered glass with its frame.

The soldiers slowly entered, their weapons at the ready to take down any nasty surprises that were heading their way.

"WE'RE ALIVE!" a voice suddenly shouted as the craft door opened, allowing several people to exit the craft, one of them a certain four-armed cyborg.

"General Grievous…" Richard growled, as he came eye-to-eye with the formerly-Separatist general.

"Ow…" a pale, raven-haired boy said, rubbing his head. "Remind me again why you wanted us to teleport here?"

"Simple, Emo!" a man in a purple and yellow jumpsuit responded. "We must provide help in bringing the Imperial Admirals to justice! And of course, we needed to save Grievous which, thanks to your Sphere Field, was a success!"

"I was doing fine until you distracted me, imbeciles!" Grievous snapped back at the trio accompanying him before turning back to Richard. "And who exactly in the galaxy are you?"

"No need to ask that question, General!" the jumpsuit-wearing man spoke up. "I can only assume that this is the "Richard" Major Campbell mentioned. Greetings, Richard! I am the leader of Team Go-Go, Hero of the Urban Jungle... Captain Parkour! And these are my teammates, Alkaline and Emo!" he finished as he gestured to the other two passengers

"I see." Richard nodded, before he smirked a little. "You must be one of David's allies, so it seems? And you must have met Gus before. Still wonder how you managed to quickly get from the surface to the planet. Unless, you were eavesdropping with whatever conversation Gus and his team had with your other friends."

He then turned to Grievous, as he raised an eyebrow. "Just to make sure, are you General Grievous, formerly of the Separatist Trade Alliance?"

"That is my name and rank, yes." Grievous responded. "If you know that, then you must know what I've done. Before you say anything, just know that if you attempt to give me a "what you did was wrong" speech, I will cut you down where you stand."

"Way to start on the wrong foot, Terminator." Emo snarked before walking up to the front. "Sorry about him, he's got trust issues." he said to Richard, ignoring the growl that came from Grievous. "I'm guessing you're the one who made the system-wide announcement?"

Richard lets out a harsh laugh at General Grievous, as he doesn't seem to be fazed by Grievous's threats.

"Trust me, if you wanted to compare atrocities…" Richard scoffed. "Then I'd tell you that our hands are just as bloody as each other's. War does things to one's ideals and morals, and no matter the justification, the lives you take are lives that would have been your own. The only winning move to preserve all lives in a war, is not to start the war at all."

He then turned to Emo, before he shook his head. "I'm afraid you have the wrong person." He responded back to the hero. "Well, originally, I would have been the one to make the announcement, but I let the XO have the honours, since I'm right here, taking out the men of the Executor."

Richard then looked at his men. "All of you stand down. Except you, Reisen, and all members of the Unison Squad." Richard relayed his orders to his men. "After all, I rather not have a lightsaber through my throat anytime soon."

The soldiers of the UGF immediately lower their weapons, as the only ones who had their weapon trained on them, was Reisen herself, as she was snapping between each and every member, keeping them in check. Satisfied that this should reduce tensions enough, he crossed his arms.

"Since we're here, I may as well ask questions." Richard asked. "What are you intending to do, when you arrived at the Executor? And what do you want to know, regarding anything that I can answer?"

"This wasn't an intentional visit." Grievous said. "I was doing just fine until THESE THREE," the cyborg growled, pointing at Team Go-Go, "suddenly appeared in my ship! I was distracted and got it, resulting in me losing control of my ship."

"Fortunately, I was able to maneuver the ship into crashing through the window instead of on the hull." CP beamed with pride. "And I didn't even leave a hole! Victory!"

"That's not something to be proud of, y'know." Alkal said sweat dropping. "Uh, anyway, Richard, if I could ask: how'd you guys end up fighting the Empire? I heard the Empire didn't have the tech to cross over to other worlds."

"Well, how about you ask them?" Richard asked back with a bitter tone. "They went right up to my doorstep, and demanded that I surrender all assets to them. The results are predictable, as you would deduce, and that's how we ended up getting into war. As for how WE got here? Thank the salvage for that. We spent some time wandering the galaxy, waiting for the right moment to attack. I raided the Bespin Outpost, just to give Luke and the others a easier time dealing with the men stationed on the planet, but who knew that the Empire stored all of their important data in each of their outposts? We gained a galaxy map, and enough data to know the Empire well enough to fight them on their own terms. They kicked the sleeping bear awake, and they'll get theirs heads torn off. Simply the law of equality, you know."

"Ah, then we have something in common." CP said. "You see, we had a friend, a Sith acolyte from 4,000 years in this world's past, who gave his life to kill Darth Sidious. To let this Empire continue to exist would be an insult to the memory of Darth Darklord! Thus, we too have the resolve advantage!"

"Darth Darklord?" Richard asked, genuinely curious about the name, as he placed a hand on his chin. '_Must be a Sith Lord, with that title… But somehow… I feel like that this Sith Lord isn't what he seems… Maybe he's one of the rare morally fair Sith Lords, one who actually isn't a homicidal psychopath._'

"Hey guys, anyone else feel like the ship is sinking?" Emo asked. "...We broke the bridge, didn't we?"

"You did WHAT!?" Richard screamed in shock, as he immediately looked where the ship crashed, as the main onboard controls were scrapped by the crash, with sparking debris surrounding it. "Oh, son of a…!"

"Parkour did it!" Emo said quickly.

"Now is not the time, Emo!" CP said. "We must abandon ship!"

"I guess that this ship is going down after all…" Richard grumbled under his breath, before he then thought of something. "Wait… I might have a way to use this to our advantage!"

Richard then tapped his comms on, as he immediately contacted the GFS Amaterasu. "GFS Amaterasu, do you copy? I repeat, GFS Amaterasu, do you copy!?" He cried into the comms.

Some static was heard in Richard's ear, as the dreadnought's captain's voice could be heard. "I copy, commander. What's your situation?"

"The enemy flagship is sinking, due to outside interference." Richard reported back. "But that's not important. Do you see that spherical space station? What is the flagship's position relative to it?"

"We're working on it…" The captain responded back, before there was a moment of silence, after which the answer came. "The enemy flagship is close enough to initiate ramming maneuvers… Wait, commander, are you going to-!"

"That's right. Relay orders, do not harm the flagship that we are onboard." Richard commanded. "We will use the remaining thrust of the enemy flagship to change course to ram the enemy space-station. That is all, do not concern about our well-being, we will find a way to avoid disaster upon us."

"I see.. Best of luck… you brave bastard." The captain spoke with a respectful tone, before the conversation ended between them.

Richard then immediately turned to Keikyo. "Keikyo, judging the damage, what is the possibility that you can temporarily take control of the craft?" He asked his kappa squadmate.

"We would have to account for the possibility that the ship's security protocols and cyber-defences are still active." Keikyo analysed . "But judging from the severe damage, I will be able to take full control for the few moments that it still remains operational enough to make a clear connection to alter the auto-pilot parameters to achieve what is needed. It won't work with a certainty, commander, but I can make it very possible."

"Then hurry, we have to immediately evacuate the ship when we're done!" Richard said, as Keikyo immediately went to work on the broken control panel, as he used his tech to fix the interface enough to allow him to access it, as he toiled to get his task done.

"Uh, permission to speak, Richard?" Emo said.

"Go ahead." Richard stated.

"Really? Okay. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR **FUCKING** MIND?!" Emo yelled. "I'm sorry, but I've already nearly died in a starship crash once before, and that was on my vacation! There's no way I'm going for a second round!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure he knows what he's doing." Alkal reassured Emo before turning to the Lieutenant Colonel. "...Right?"

"If you're scared of surviving the crash, then evacuate." Richard answered back. "I'll have a dropship leave some more room for you all. But don't persuade me not to crash the Executor into the Death Star. After all, I can use it to get into the Death Star."

"...No. I'm staying here." CP said. "A hero must never abandon a friend. And as of now, I declare you a friend of Team Go-Go! Alkal, Emo, flee if you must, but you must go forward without me!"

The two other members looked at each other for a bit and nodded before turning back, their eyes full of determined fire.

"...The Mightest Auto-Man, Alkaline!"

"The Master of Black Magic, Emo!"

"And together, the three of us are...Team Go-Go!" they said in unison. "**LIKE HELL WE'D LEAVE YOU**!"

Richard was silent for a moment, as he watched the determination of the team of heroes in such a grand display, as it seemed to reminded him of something, something that brought him… a warm feeling.

He couldn't help but let out a series of chuckles, before he then laughed with mirth for a moment, before he then wiped the tears of remembrance from his face with his arm.

"I see… So you're determined to see this through to the end… Sorry, it was just that those words of yours… reminded me of something… a time long ago, which I cherished." Richard remarked with a smile that indicated how his heart lightened up. "Very well, Team Go-Go. Then you will be considered brave heroes indeed."

Keikyo immediately rushed back, as he packed up his gadgets. "It's done, commander." Keikyo answered back, as the bridge showed that the ship was turning around, as it was charging at the Death Star.

"Good." Richard stated. "Only I need to remain here, all squads, retreat to the hangars, and await exfil. The same goes to you, Reisen, and the rest of you in the Unison Squad. Do not worry about me, I will return, victorious."

The bunny-eared soldiers were the first to comply, as they saluted their commander for his courage, before then leaving the bridge. The next was Reisen, who gave Richard a worried look that was rarely seen in her eyes, before she then moved out the bridge.

The Unison Squad members hesitated for a moment, as they didn't want to leave their leader, until Richard then smiled a little.

"Go, my friends." Richard answered back. "This fight is not yours. You have done enough, allow me to finish this fight for you all."

"...You'll owe me a lot for making me miss whatever spectacular fight you are going to have." Yu answered back with a solemn tone, before he exited through the door.

"Take care… my dearest commander." Rina muttered, as she immediately followed after Yu.

"I'll be waiting for you back on the ship, commander Richard... " Tatsuki said, as he then turned to leave. "Please make it back, for the sake of all of us, who believe in you."

"See you when you return, commander." Keikyo nodded. "I'm certain that you wouldn't be sure of your survival, if you were to leave now."

Keikyo then left, leaving Richard and Team Go-Go, with their companion, General Grievous.

"So...ready?" Emo asked.

"Indeed. Richard…" CP started before pointing out the damaged window. "Bring down this ship!"

"This will never work." Grievous said. "This ship will disintegrate on contact, as will we."

"Not if we take ramming speed, General." Richard countered. "When I meant ramming speed, I literally had Keikyo overclock the engines to max output. The Death Star won't have enough time to shoot it down, or protect itself enough from the effects."

"Wait, Emo, how long until you can teleport again?" Alkal asked.

"About thirty seconds." Emo said. "Where to?"

"The Death Star, of course. Our friends are there!" CP said. "Richard, how long until the Executor is no more?"

"You'll have long enough." Richard answered back. "I was going to give you several rebreathers in case you needed them in the case of a space vacuum, but I guess you've got a way in already. I'm teleporting in as well."

He then tore open a sukima, as he stepped through it.

"See you in the Death Star, Team Go-Go." Richard smirked, before he hopped in. "And keep an eye out for Gus, he'll be there as well."

The Executor's bridge windows showed that the Death Star is close to the Executor, although it is only in a few minutes, that the ship will collide with its intended target.

"Come on, come on…" Emo repeated until the spell book he had in his hand glowed purple. "Yes! Gather round boys!"

As the others did so, Emo prepared his spell incitement.

"I call upon the power of the Void to take us to the place we seek." Emo said evenly as the Executor inched closer to space station. "Black Hole...take us to the Death Star!"

As a void enveloped the four-man group, the battleship crashed into the Death Star, rocking the station with the shockwave as the ship itself was consumed in a fireball, as well as tearing a large hole that managed to damage the Death Star's internal systems to disturb those inside of it.

* * *

_In the Death Star…_

Richard soon stepped out of the sukima, as he found himself in the bowels of the Death Star, right in front of a bunch of stormtroopers, who were shocked by his appearance.

"Sorry, are you not expecting visitors at this hour?" Richard sneered, before he drew his blade. "You must be fatally out of luck, if you're in here with me."

He then raised his blade and cut down the stormtroopers, before they could run away, while some managed to attack, only for Richard to dodge out of the line of fire again and again, as he cut through them like knife through fruit.

When he was sure that the area was clear, he immediately opened a sukima, as Gus came out of it from above, dropping on the ground.

"Richard?" Gus asked. "Why did you drop me here?"

"I need a second to cover my back." Richard responded back, as he flicked the blood of the stormtroopers off his blade. "Come on, we're going to meet with 'Emperor' Tarkin, and 'negotiate' our conditions with him."

Gus shivered a little, as he was aware what Richard was going to do to the Emperor, before he drew his weapon. "Then let's go." He replied back.

The two of them made their way through the corridors of the Death Star, as none of the imperial troops in their could stop them, as they both used blade and gun to carve through all of them, until they managed to reach an elevator, that would take them closer to where the Emperor's throne is.

"Richard… If we're going to take out the Death Star, why is it just us two for now?" Gus asked.

"Because we need to keep our presence as little as possible for now," Richard answered back. "With only two of us, we'll make them underestimate us. After we reach the Emperor, after he tries to summon all his troops, I'll pull out the rest of the teams here, and watch their expressions of horror, as I smugly declare that I've been holding back against them during our assault through their space station."

"Woah… That's quite… impressively cunning actually." Gus replied with a astonished tone.

"Feh, the Empire's going to lose no matter what. But I'll enjoy giving them some well-earned humiliation." Richard answered back, before he then readied his blade. "By the way, you might want to get that sword of yours out. Some enemies are planning a surprise on us."

"Where-" Gus was about to say, before he hear crackling sounds behind him, quickly approaching him, as he immediately used his personal blade, a large short-sword with a silver hue to block the blow from a descending Royal Guard, as force pike met sword, with a shower of sparks.

Gus managed to push the Royal Guard off him, as another tried to commit death from above onto Richard, only to have his force-pike cut in half, as Richard grappled the Royal Guard, and swung him right off the elevator platform, as the doomed bodyguard screamed to his death.

Soon, more Royal Guards jumped onto the platform, as the heads of their weapons sparked with lethal amounts of electricity.

"Royal Guards…?" Richard said, before he scoffed loudly, as he twirled his blade around in a gesture of belittlement. "Please, you might be able to handle my men, and even some of my experienced elites. But against me? You may as well be simple mooks."

The Royal Guards took offence in Richard's statement, as they rushed both of the UGF commanders. Gus immediately used his blade to parry each blow coming towards him with precise accuracy, and using kicks to break his enemy's guard and cut them down with several strikes, while Richard flowed between each strike, and used but a single strike to slice the Royal Guards through their chest and abdomen, as his attacks were all fatal blows that caused their blood to spill like a fountain on the elevator platform.

Back-to-back, the two friends battled against wave after wave of Royal Guards, until the elevator platform clicked into place, indicating that it reached its destination, while the bodies of the Royal Guards surrounded them.

"That should reduce the numbers of those Royal Guards significantly." Gus said. "They sent a lot of them to us… Are they really that unnerved by our presence here?"

"Well, we are the commanders, and I proved for a fact that I'm already a strong threat on my own." Richard responded back. "They assumed that you, as the other commander, would share the same threat level, so they sent their best against us, in a bid to get rid of us, before the other heroes reach the throne. Too bad it's a vain effort."

Richard chuckled darkly, as they passed through the doors, before Richard found himself in another large room, and that Team Go-Go were in it, fighting against a variety of Empire troops.

"Take this!" CP said, kicking a trooper in the face. "Alkal!"

"Bronze...Tornado!" Alkal said, summoning a bronze pillar and spinning around, knocking multiple troopers away. Meanwhile, Emo threw spheres at troopers hanging back.

"Ah, Richard! We'll be with you in a moment!" CP said before stomping on a trooper's head, knocking him out. "Okay, we have cleared the area." he finished, throwing a thumbs-up.

"Glad to see that you made it." Richard answered back. "Have you got any idea which way to the throne? I have a feeling that everyone will be there."

"Uh... I think it's down the hall to the left." Emo said. "Or was that right...argh, where's a map when you need one?"

"I suggest we follow Grievous." CP said. "After we arrived, he took off. Said something about "getting revenge on that scum"."

"Let's go! He went that way!" Alkal said, pointing to the left. The three heroes then took off in that direction.

"So...what do you make of them?" Gus asked his friend.

"You know of all people that you shouldn't be asking that question…" Richard frowned. "But right now, they're definitely worth the title, like David. But that won't mean much… And let me do a little check…"

Richard then activated his magic sense again, as he managed to trace Team Go-Go, as they were moving, and Richard managed to sense something that was towards the upper levels of the space station. When he managed to feel it, he suddenly felt a jolting pain through his head, which snapped him out of his sensing, and causing him to clench his head.

"Richard!?" Gus exclaimed, seeing his friend in pain. "What's wrong?"

"I think I managed to find a potent Sith Lord." Richard said. "The signature managed to cause me feedback, so it must be where they might be, and thus, the Emperor most likely. We know where they are now… But should we teleport in? It should be best if we continue our way through the Death Star first."

"Right… And if you say that we still need to go up…" Gus said, as he pointed towards one of the other doors. "I managed to see that there was another elevator there. We should take it up."

"Lead the way, pal." Richard nodded, as they immediately made their way through the door.

They continued through the Death Star, as they fought off more Imperial troops on the way, although they seemed to be more experienced and well-equipped than the ones on the lower level, justifying Richard's hunch further.

Eventually, they managed to reach the throne room, as they managed to find the corpse of Tarkin, which was on the ground. Gus was surprised, as he seemed to notice that the corpse was sporting the impalement burn of a lightsaber, while Richard's teeth were grit with annoyance.

"Tch… Looks like someone finished off the Emperor. So much for the Grand Moff. His reign wasn't long-lived." Richard clicked his tongue.

Eventually, Team Go-Go came in, as they saw Richard and Gus, and the dead body of Tarkin.

"You're too late, Tarkin the Emperor is unfortunately deceased." Richard announced. "Looks like your friends finished the job before I could."

"Yeesh. What a way to go." Emo cringed before noticing something. "Wait...where's Starkiller? And where's-"

"TARKIN!" a voice boomed as Grievous stormed into the room, four lightsabers in hand. "Time for you to pay for the sins of-"

At this moment, Grievous noticed the scene and grew quiet. "...Damn it. I was too late."

"Don't worry, we missed out of the action to." Alkal comforted. "On the bright side, I guess we won! Well, almost. Now all that's left is destroying the Death Star...we're in...right...now...uh oh."

"Yeah… Uh oh indeed…" Gus quivered slightly. "With the shield generator gone, the Rebellion fighters are free to attack the Death Star. And if Lando's leading… Then they'll be at the core soon enough… And when that goes… Oh gods…"

"Boys, it's time for our last resort strategy." CP said calmly, before his voice turned into panic. "...RUN FOR OUR LIVES!"

At this statement, Team Go-Go rushed out of the throne room, as Richard grabbed Gus.

"We're leaving NOW!" Richard shouted, as he summoned a sukima and chucked Gus through it, before he then jumped through it.

* * *

_In the bridge of the GFS Izanagi…_

Richard and Gus soon arrive at the bridge, as the XO greets them.

"Commander Richard! Commander Gus! You're unscathed!" The officer exclaimed with surprise.

"We're done here." Richard told the officer, as he brushed himself off. "Activate fleet comms, will you?"

The XO immediately does so, as Richard's words could be heard by all of the ships.

"This is Commander Richard Liu." Richard declared to the fleet "As of now, the UGF are to retreat from the sector, and disengage all hostilities. Our mission is complete, the Empire has been struck a lethal blow. We will rest and wait, until we have heard news from the Rebellion for a time and place for negotiation."

Richard then shut off the comms, as the UGF fleet immediately turned to leave the sector, with the warp drives at the ready, ship after ship zooming out of the sector, as the GFS Izanagi was the last to go.

Before the ship left, Richard watched as the Death Star exploded, before then seeing the very same ship that belonged to David, descend towards Endor's surface. Knowing what the teams might be doing there, he let out a caring smile.

'_I guess that this will be one tale to tell…_' Richard thought to himself. '_We managed to fight the Empire in the battle of Endor, and managed to debilitate the army enough to be considered a faction equal to the Rebellion. I wonder how the people of Gensokyo would react, when they learned that we fought a galactic empire and won… And I bet my little foxy sister would find this tale to be another bed-time story for her._'

Richard then chuckled to himself, before the ship warped out of the sector.

'_But until then… I will fight until the very end of time, for the sake of the land that I belong to…_'


	6. Treaty

Unmei Force: Retaliation

Chapter 5: Treaty

* * *

_In the GFS Izanagi, after a uncertain amount of time…_

Richard was in the bridge with every single one of his teammates, as they took their places in various spots.

"It's been a while since the battle of Endor has ended in the victory of both us and the Rebellion." Richard remarked, as he looked towards the outer space through the bridge's windows. "We're barely clinging onto our resources as it is, and we don't have enough fuel to make a jump back to GFS Ryujin…"

"Richard… What should we do?" Gus asked. "We can't just wait around, twiddling our thumbs. We need to contact the Rebellion…"

"We can't initiate negotiations, Gus, because we do not have a clue where their home base is." Richard answered back. "Recall that the last known base was on Hoth, and that was already destroyed by the Empire. They moved to a planet that is not shown on the galaxy map that we have, so we cannot risk wasting precious fuel in looking for them."

"Man, this sucks…" Antonio complained. "The war's over, and we still got a ton of problems that are unresolved…"

At that moment, a beeping noise started up on a console at the front of the bridge before a male voice came through. "Hello? This thing on? Hello?"

Richard immediately reacted to the incoming signal, as he immediately connected. "This is Commander Richard Liu of the United Gensokyo Forces. I have returned to my post, and thus am able to receive your hailing. To whom am I speaking with?"

"United...oh, that explains the other Imperial defeats!" the voice said in understanding. "This is Barry Flux of the Multiverse Coalition! I was putting a fleet together to help the Hero Alliance when I heard that the Empire was defeated. So...do you require assistance? Because I can get things together and be at your position in at least a few hours."

Richard remained silent for a moment, before he then cleared his throat.

"Barry Flux… We need some time to think. Don't take this in offence, we're merely undecided for now, and need to make a discussion." Richard answered back in a humble tone.

Richard then muted the comms for a moment, making sure that the person on the other side couldn't hear them, and he won't be able to hear the other side. He turned to the group, with a conflicted expression.

"Heroes Alliance…" Richard muttered to himself, before he grit his teeth. "So that explains why there are so many heroes wandering this reality… They're all under one hero team or the other… Tch…"

"Richard… But isn't this a good thing?" Gus asked. "If we work with them, we'll be able to get the assistance that we need! This is a brilliant opportunity to join David and the others, so that they can repay us by helping us with our problem!"

Sanae looked at Gus with a astonished look, while Richard's expression turned into a scowl.

"But at what cost, Gus?" Richard asked back. "Tell me, are you aware?"

"Richard… I know why you have been distancing yourself from the other heroes... But one way or the other, we'll have to work with them." Gus asked back. "Everything you're thinking of, it's just plain assumptions, or needless fears. Besides, there are ways that we can work together, without having to fully swear allegiance with them!"

"Perhaps so…" Richard answered back. "I might have an idea for that… But…"

Richard then walked up to Gus, and jabbed a stiff finger on the other's chest. "Don't call my fears needless." He growled in a faintly hostile tone. "You know exactly why those fears exist. I don't worry about the heroes themselves, I worry about what comes after them. Gensokyo has enough troubles on its own. If any more trouble comes… Not even Yukari will be able to handle it all before permanent damage comes…"

Gus did not react at all, as he nodded firmly, which seemed to placate Richard a little, before he then turned to everyone.

"Then I'll state my decision. We will meet up with the envoy of the Multiverse Coalition, Barry Flux, and his cohorts, with only reasonable counter-measures. In the case of an negotiation, we are to persuade for a mutual trade resources, or access to their bases, and the services in each of them. We are to refuse any pretense of an official alliance, although a non-aggression treaty will be a suitable substitute. Anything else will depend on how matters proceed." Richard answered back. "All those who object with this method, raise your hand. I will accept whatever you might have to say."

Everyone looked at each other, before they shook their heads one-by-one, although the more hesitant ones, Gus, Marisa, and Corrin, were the last to do so.

"Then it's decided then." Richard answered back. "I surely hope that these are your honest opinions."

He then unmuted the communications, as he then spoke to Barry Flux again.

"We have an agreement." Richard told Barry Flux with a even tone. "We would like you to state a meeting point, on any one of the planets within this galaxy. It is your choice where the meeting is held."

"What? No, I wasn't asking for you to join, unless you want to. I was just asking if you needed help. I've got a lot of supplies that I'm not going to be able to use since the war is over." Barry responded. "I prefer people to join the new Coalition of their own volition."

Richard raised an eyebrow at the strange comment. "What exactly are you talking about, Barry Flux?" He asked in a non-accusing tone. "I'm just asking you where you want us to meet. I doubt that it would be productive of either of us to wander around looking for each other. Just tell me where you want to meet us at, and we'll send our fleet that way.

"Well, that depends. How much fuel does your fleet have at the moment? If you're low, I can just come to you by tracking your universal signature."

"That would be most generous of you, but we have enough to make a jump to most planets within this galaxy, before our fuel runs out." Richard folded his arms, tapping his fingers on his elbows. "You need not inconvenience yourself too much for us."

"Okay, in that case, head to... Tatooine. That should be out of the way of any remnants of the Empire." Barry answered. "See you there!" he finished before the signal ended.

Richard turned to a bridge crew member. "What is our current sector?" He asked them.

"We made a return to the Seswenna sector." Was the response. "The sector was deemed to one of the places where the Empire has least expected us."

"Move for Tatooine." The commander ordered. "And make sure that only a select few are armed at the ready. I have a feeling that this Barry Flux is genuine in his request."

The fleet immediately jumped for Tatooine, as they appeared into the space above the planet, while several of the members made their way to the drop ship that would take them to the surface.

* * *

_In Tatooine..._

When they landed on the surface, Richard stepped out, dressed in a ceremonial admiral military suit, without the cap, while Reimu, Sanae, Gus, and Fox came out, as well as some soldiers who were equipped with depowered rifles.

He looked around for Barry Flux, before he noticed one of the towns on the planet. He made his way in, expecting to find him and the others, as the soldiers placed their rifles on their back, and followed after their commander.

Once at the town, the gathered party looked around until they were approached by a curious group: a man with black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a matching black suit and tie. On his left was a teenage girl with orange hair and green eyes with a gray dress with green, Tron-like lines running down it. Finally, a man in gray and yellow Mjolnir armor flanked the suited man's right.

"Richard Liu?" the suited man asked.

"Tis I." Richard spoke with a overly fancy accent, with an exaggerated bow, before he then got rid of the tone. "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Liu of the UGF. Who are you? Are you one of Barry Flux's officers? Or one of his associates?"

"Nope. I am Barry Flux." the man said. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Liu. These are two of my employees, Penny Polendina and Agent Washington. Well, we're here, so... let's talk. What do you want to know?"

"What do you wish to know in return?" Richard asked back. "I do not wish to know much, since I merely want to keep this on fair terms, and avoid mingling our own matters with each other, so I won't ask much about you. Information is a currency whose value varies depending on who holds it. So I cannot tell you much."

"Don't mind him, he's just a little shy." Sanae quipped with a awkward smile, which caused Richard to look at Sanae with a 'Are you kidding me?' expression, before he cleared his throat.

"Ignore that. My friend, who is an officer in the force, is a bit of a chatterbox." Richard answered back. "Being shy is not the reason why I'm not asking for much from you. All I ask is that if there can be a mutual trade of resources. We need fuel to return to our home base, and we will pay any reasonable price or trade to obtain that resource."

"Well, I don't want money if that's what you're thinking." Barry said. "I just wanted to ask you a question. You see, when I heard the word Gensokyo, I did a little research and there was one resident of that place that got me...a little unsettled. So tell me... what do you know about Flandre Scarlet?"

"Flandre Scarlet?" Richard asked back, before he then placed a finger on his lips. "I know her. Tell me what you know about her."

Despite Richard's calm appearance, Richard's mind was racing, as he was shocked that someone from Gensokyo was here. Even if it only from this reality's Gensokyo, this is a miraculous discovery to him.

'_Flandre Scarlet…!? But which one?_' Richard thought to himself. '_If it's our one… No, Flandre would never do such things… I personally saw that she managed to slowly be able to regain a heart for everyone, after having spent so long with others who genuinely cared for her. It has to be from this reality, it has to be! I refuse to believe that our Flandre would relapse into her bitter self upon landing her for whatever reason that this damned existence had…!_'

"Don't worry, this isn't about her directly." Barry continued. "But... well, I'm going to have to give some context on this."

"As you may or may not know, I hosted a fighting tournament before the World of Light incident. But what you definitely don't know is that there was apparently a plot going on behind the scenes: someone that was part of my family hired the villains on the roster to steal the prize. Several months later, I learned that this individual was known as 'Techno', and that they had tried to bring Normal on to this team he assembled during the Jump Force incident several weeks ago. However, Techno Flux was turned into a monster by Normal and, upon being turned back, seemed to lose his memories. But...he somehow escaped while we were at the final battle, and hasn't been seen since."

"How does this relate to the name?" Richard asked back, as he seemed to be interested to hear how the World of Light incident almost dragged him into the battle, had it not been Yukari's warning to stay away, and that the events of Jump Force occurred without his knowledge.

"Because, from what I've heard, Flandre Scarlet has the ability to cause great destruction. Now, you probably know her better than I do, but I'm pretty sure that kind of power could catch Techno's interest and if could convince Frieza and Cell to work for him... well, let's just say that I'm concerned about what she could bring to the table." Barry said.

Richard remained silent for a moment, before he then calmed himself down. "Is this is what you want from me, in exchange for the resources?" He asked stoically.

"Oh, I'm giving you the resources either way, I didn't say you had to answer the question." Barry said quickly. "I just feel a lot more at ease if I knew if you trust her or not. So...do you trust Flandre Scarlet? Because if you do, I'll certainly take your word for it."

"But I would have to owe you one way or the other. If you want the information, consider it a part of the debt repaid, or even the full price." Richard answered back. "Very well, answering that question would be difficult, so I'll explain from the beginning first."

"Flandre Scarlet is the sister of Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, one of Gensokyo's most prominent residences. She's actually considered to be quite powerful because of that destructive ability of hers, and that is why Remilia, her own sister, had her locked up in the mansion's basement, in order to prevent the world from seeing the horrible power she has, and to protect her own little sister from committing unwilling acts of destruction and massacre. It has been at least 495 years since she was locked up inside the basement, and that has done some things to her. Once a cheerful little girl who wanted to enjoy life and be close to her sister, all those years made her a bitter young vampire, who despise her sister, who locked her alone in the basement, without anyone to talk to her. Some would say that she is driven insane by the time inside the basement. But that's not entirely true. She is still sane, but she's resentful of everyone, and will not resist the urge to 'play' with anyone she meets, because she yearned for someone so long, that she will do anything to whoever she meets, and unfortunately, her 'playing' is one of the most common actions. And by 'playing', I mean that she will literally break the person before her, like a abused toy. Don't mistake this for malice though, because it hurts her when the people with her break because of her power, and that only makes her resentment go deeper, and especially when people state that she is a monster, when all she's doing is enacting her twisted form of 'playing', born from a sense of loneliness that runs deeper than the deepest pit in any world. If there is a way to make her better, there can only be one way: To endure her resentment themselves, and accept her as who she truly is, a girl who wanted friends, not the insane monster that others believe her as."

Barry listened to Richard's account, his expression turning from business to worry before ending on sadness. "So what you're saying…" Barry started cautiously, "is that she's emotionally fragile at the moment. Have you personally reached out to her? Would you call her a friend?"

Richard remained in silence, before he walked up to Barry.

"Only if you keep what I said a secret between yours r agents and you. No-one is to know what I might tell you." Richard answered back with a serious tone. "What I will tell you will be a revelation that you will find incredibly unbelievable. Before I tell you, I must tell you that Remilia feared Flandre, so much that she neglected her sisterly love to her, by locking her up. She taught her nothing, in a attempt to keep Flandre in check, as knowledge would make her ever more dangerous, and anything that she learns outside will agitate her further to escape her bindings. She basically destroys, because she doesn't know any better, and that she has no-one to teach her what is wrong in her ways."

"I see. And what does this have to do with you?" Barry inquired.

"Will you keep your promise? Swear upon it on whatever code of honour, or whatever ethics you follow by?" Richard responded back.

"Alright. I swear on the grave of my younger brother, not to tell anyone about what you tell me." Barry swore.

"Swearing on one's grave I see…?" Richard asked back. "To swear upon the grave of a loved one is a very serious vow to make. Very well, I shall tell you."

Richard then sat down on the ground, crossing his legs over, and clasping his hands under his chin.

"When I first came to Gensokyo, I was merely a wanderer of realms, and the ones that stuck by my side were very few. Out of the people right here in this place, only Gus and Fox were the ones that were with me from the beginning of my journey." Richard answered back. "And there were only two more that were with me. Arriving at Gensokyo, I met Reimu, who is the very black-haired femme fatale that you see before you. We spent an entire year, getting to know each other, and all of us getting to know Gensokyo as a whole. After that, there was an incident, or a disaster that typical people would call it. It was aptly named the Scarlet Mist Incident, where the entirety of Gensokyo was wrapped by a scarlet fog that covered the skies, blocking all of the light. Crops suffered. The sky was dark. People were panicked." Richard told his story. "So, I, with Reimu and Marisa, who is another one of the residents, Marisa, and together, the three of us worked together to solve the incident. I cannot tell you the specifics of the incident, as they involve very personal matters. But I can tell you that I defeated Remilia Scarlet, the perpetrator of the incident, with the help of the two, and a close friend that I made in the land. Remilia, after being defeated, agreed to get rid of the fog for us, before the seals that have kept Flandre locked up were starting to fail. Remilia was aghast at the fact, and pleaded for Reimu, Marisa, me and my friend to stop Flandre at all costs, because she would do worse than what Remilia would have done, should she be let loose. When we reached the basement, we were met by a very vengeful Flandre, who sought to 'break' her sister for what she had done to her. We all tried to stop her, and the ensuing fight was a nightmare to recall. I remembered being blown to the ground more than I could clearly remember, and my body was screaming with pain, yearning for the release of death. The fight took everything I had, but Reimu and Marisa managed to finish the fight. Defeated, Flandre cursed all of us, crying about how she never was given a single ounce of love, even by the sister she believed was her family, and how she just wanted to live her life with everyone, as she broke into tears. With the last of my strength, I crawled up to her, and embraced her with all I had, even if the pain of doing so threatened to sink me into unconsciousness. And it did, but the last things I could hear, was the cries of Flandre, who finally cried tears of regret, because she finally knew what it was like to have someone who saw her as the girl she wanted to be. When I woke up next, Gus told me that Remilia finally regretted her actions, and decided to embrace Flandre as her own sister, instead of a caged monster. She also told Gus that she wanted me to stay by Flandre's side, in order to be her personal caretaker. I refused Remilia's offer, although I told her that I would constantly visit Flandre, and teach her everything she needed, as well as bringing new friends for her. Slowly, over the years I spent in Gensokyo, Flandre slowly became a true girl, one that would never use her power to harm others, and instead use her reformed heart to act like a real girl and make friends with anyone that she met. From a resentful bitter monster to a girl who enjoys life and is friendly. That kind of change is extremely rarely seen."

"...My God." Barry said breathlessly. "Well, that answers my question, but with all due respect, why would you want to keep it between us? It doesn't sound like something to be ashamed of."

Richard merely looked away in silence, and closed his eyes, as he recalled something.

'_Richard… Help me… It hurts… It hurts…_' Flandre's weak voice rang through his head, a reminder of a world he never wanted to see again, which caused him to hesitate to answer back. '_Where is everyone…? Why am… I so alone…? Don't leave me… Don't leave me…_'

"Mr. Richard, are you alright?" Penny asked in concern.

Richard then looked back, as his eyes seemed to be sullen for some reason.

"It's not about why it's worth being ashamed of… That was one of my most noble acts upon Gensokyo…" Richard answered back. "But… These kind of things are not to be easily spoken of, as one could easily use what they hear to twist the words for whatever sick purpose they wish. Looking at you, I see that you know better to do such things, and your other two friends seemed to understand the same idea. That is why only you all can learn of this. Because the more you spread this information, the more likely those who seek to use the information for their twisted purpose. Imagine what I said, Barry… What if someone used that… to spite Flandre and drag her deeper in her personal hell? I cannot bear to see another Flandre suffer like mine did. She didn't deserve what she got, especially not the eternal reputation as a destroyer with a child's mind."

"Yes, that makes sense." Barry said in understanding. "Well, I've heard all I need to, but let me tell you something: keep a close eye on her. Because I have a bad feeling that this Techno guy is planning something big. It may take months, even years, but he's up to something that will shake the Multiverse to its core. And when he strikes... I'd rather have Flandre Scarlet as a friend than an enemy."

At this statement, Barry seems to calm down and smiles. "Well, thanks for answering my questions, Mr. Liu! I'll have those supplies delivered to your fleet as soon as I get back to my main ship. Expect them in about a half hour."

"Wait. There is one more thing I must tell you, and another that I ask of you." Richard responded back.

"Sure, ask away." Barry said.

"It regards Flandre's power. The power to destroy. It follows a specific concept, which you might use to help create countermeasures that can reduce the lethality of her power, should you come across her." Richard answered back, before he placed a hand out open. "Her ability allows her to visualise the 'eye' of every single object that she can see. For 'eye', it refers to the weakest point of an object, often near the centre of said object, much like a cell's nucleus. She transfers the 'eye' of her target into her hand, and she can destroy the object, by crushing the 'eye' in her hand, creating a implosion that tears the target from within. The stronger the object is on the inside, the more power she requires to crush the 'eye' of the object. Therefore, you could make a object that could be extremely resistant against being imploded, and Flandre would find it hard to crush its 'eye' to trigger its destruction. However, she doesn't solely rely on the power of destruction, Her blade, Lavaeteinn is just as strong as her powers of destruction, and she will use it to cleave anyone who cannot be crushed with her ability, and she can clone herself to allow her to attack in different manners and directions."

"I see, I'll keep that in mind. And your question?" Barry asked.

Richard opened up a sukima, as a custom-made transmitter appeared in his hand, and placed it right into Barry's armoured hand.

"If you find Flandre… Use this to talk to me directly. This is a direct line to me." Richard answered back. "If you meet Flandre, you won't be able to easily defeat her alone. Reimu, Marisa and I have experience against her, so we'll be sufficient enough to handle her for you. And she'll need someone who understands her… I have to be there for her… If she asks about me… Then tell her that you're my friend… And show her the transmitter. Trust me."

"As you wish." Barry said. "I keep my eyes open. Well, if that's all, I hope you have a good day. Oh, and if you have time, the Perfect Link Tournament finals are being broadcasted. You should turn in, it's quite exciting. See you around!" Barry waved as he lifted his wrist, showing a device around it that he pressed a few buttons on, causing him and his companions to vanish in a flash of light.

Richard looked at where Barry and the others, before he then sighed deeply.

"...These kind of matters… Regardless of where I go… There is always a problem for me to solve…" Richard muttered to himself. "Who is to blame though…? This Flandre… Could it be ours, or is it another one entirely?"

He then turned around, as he made for the dropship, the soldiers following him back. They docked the dropship, as it returned back into space.

* * *

_In the GFS Izanagi…_

Richard made his way back to the bridge, along with the rest of his group, as the XO greeted them for their return, as Richard turned to the XO.

"Have you received any docking requests?" Richard asked back.

"Yes, several. They seem to be under the name of Barry Flux. They have been calling for the last half-hour and so." The XO reported back. "Do you wish to let them in? They state that they have the fuel for our ships."

"Allow them, and guide them to the fuel compartments." Richard answered back. "Barry Flux has negotiated a successful deal with us, and this is merely their payment as promised."

"Roger that. All of the fleet ships are prepared for docking." The kappa officer complied with a nod.

Richard watched as the fuel ships sent by Barry Flux entered the ship through the hangars, and a few moments later, the crew-members immediately turned to Richard.

"Commander, our fuel reserves have been topped to maximum capacity." One of the bridge crew told Richard. "They also seemed to have left enough fuel to refuel the fleet once again, should we need it."

"I see." Richard answered back, before he activated the fleet comms. "Alright, report fuel status for all ships."

"GFS Amaterasu has drunk her fill, commander." The captain of the UGF dreadnought answered back.

"GFS Tenshi is green for fuel, sir." Another ship captain reported.

"GFS Raijin is all topped up!"

Various cries of confirmation on the refuelling rang through the comms, as Richard let a smile rise on his lips.

"Strap yourselves in, men, we're returning home." Richard said, before closing the comms. "Warp back to the GFS Ryujin. Our mission here is complete."

"Roger that. Starting warp sequences…" Another crew-member answered back.

Everyone was silent, as the ship immediately entered warp-space, before they arrived out of the galaxy, and back in the desolate piece of outer space, where their fortress was.

"Home sweet home…" Richard hummed with a grin. "We're back. Hail the temporary commander."

Soon, the comms on the other side crackled, as a female voice was heard. "Hello, hello? Who is this?" The voice asked.

"This is Commander Richard Liu, we've made a safe return." Richard answered back. "Prepare to receive us."

"Got that… Guess it's time for me to step down for you… Welcome back, sir," The female commander answered back, before the docks in the fortress opened to allow the fleet to enter one-by-one.

After everyone has safely docked off from their ships, as the respective groups moved to their own destinations, Richard made his way back to the command room of the fortress, where he slumped back into his commander's seat with a deep sigh.

Soon after, Thrawn came in right from the bridge elevator, as he walked right into the room.

"Well, well, Commander Richard. I assume that you have been quite tired from the war, have you?" Thrawn spoke with a intrigued tone.

"Ah right, I almost forgot to talk to you, my new officer, Thrawn." Richard answered back, as he turned his head to look at the cunning Chiss officer. "So, how has my men treated you?"

"They seem to treat me with respect. It seems to have better respect for other races than the Empire, at the very least." Thrawn answered back. "And they did not seem to react too deeply when I told them that I was formerly a Great Admiral, they saluted me in return, and stated that they're happy to receive another officer in their forces."

"Yeah, I didn't tell them about you, Thrawn, because I wanted you to see what they would be like, when treating other respectable people like you." Richard answered back. "So, what's your thoughts? Exactly as I have told you before? That this army follows quite good order, while preserving some more societal aspects?"

"It is not exactly the same as what you have said." Thrawn denied. "But you are mostly correct that this organisation is worthy of my allegiance and respect. I will lead your men, and take care of your matters, so long that you prove that you use that power well."

"Don't worry." Richard responded with a wave of his hand.. "You'll find yourself without any work for now. But what you can do is train my men to think and fight like you. If you can make creative plans that can earn great victories, then imagine what a force with many officers as cunning and tactful as you would be like."

"You raise a good point." Thrawn replied with a hand on his chin. "Be warned though, I am a most strict instructor of men. Only the best can be considered worthy to be taught of my methods."

"I expected no less." Richard answered back, before he then summoned a sukima, that dropped two glasses of chilled cocktail. "A drink to celebrate?"

"Only as a gesture of good-will. I assume that this drink does not have much alcohol within it? I prefer not to be inebriated during my service at all." Thrawn asked Richard, as he took one of the glasses.

"Oh, don't worry. This thing has very little alcohol. I'm sure that you can handle it, unless you're a light drinker because of extremely low alcohol tolerance." Richard assured Thrawn, before raising his glass. "A toast to a brilliant partnership, my brilliant new strategist?"

Thrawn merely smiled back. "A toast indeed." He simply stated, as he bumped glasses with Richard, as they both downed their drinks, thinking about their own futures in time.

* * *

Unmei Force: Retailiation

**E N D**


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